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I'm looking for a sans serif font (similar to Arial) with a (fairly) symmetrical 'S'

This is Arial's S:

enter image description here

See how the top part is so different from the bottom?

Even if not 100% symmetrical, if somebody can help me find a better one?

Or know how to edit this one (Arial) to at least improve it... I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks!

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The 'S' is a weird glyph...there's a reason why it's usually not exactly symmetrical.

Helvetica is more symmetrical than Arial:

Helvetica 'S'

Another font that came to mind is Giogio Sans - different than Arial, to be sure, but certainly pretty symmetrical:

Giorgio Sans 'S'

League Gothic is different than Arial but has a fair amount of symmetry to it (depending on how you define symmetry, I guess):

League Gothic 'S'

One more symmetrical font that's not like Arial - Tungsten:

Tungsten 'S'

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    You mention there's a reason why the S is not symmetrical--can you elaborate on this?
    – Cat
    Commented Jul 31, 2014 at 2:08
  • @Eric I dunno, it's just a visual thing, what we're used to culturally. Try doodling 'S' letters on paper without thinking, and see how they're formed. Do you find that the letters are heavier/larger on the bottom part of the S? Try drawing top-heavy ones...they don't look right.
    – Brendan
    Commented Jul 31, 2014 at 2:34
  • Alright, that's fair. I just thought you might have a study or something that showed that typographical purpose of drawing an S like that. (I know top-heavy Ss look weird, but I'm more curious about symmetrical ones.)
    – Cat
    Commented Jul 31, 2014 at 2:35
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    @Eric - heh, you exposed me :P no study or anything. I just remember working on my own font and trying to get cute with the letters, and I was never happy with my "S". It's a weird letter!
    – Brendan
    Commented Jul 31, 2014 at 2:37
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    I agree getting s to work takes as much time as the rest of the fonts basic latin letters, not accounting keerns. Its usually the one that bothers me, made 6 fonts and 5 of those i had to redo the s many times.
    – joojaa
    Commented Jul 31, 2014 at 8:01
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Do you have access/ability to use Adobe Illustrator? If so, right click on the text and select "Create Outlines". Then you will have a path that you can modify.

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I suggest that you draw a new S in a font editor using a grid. Here is my attempt to create a symmetrical S. It does look a little bit unbalanced but it will always do if you are striving towards symmetry.

Symmetrical S

Font file in Birdfont format

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