Saturday, September 10, 2011

Comic Sans: Misused and Misunderstood

Comic Sans is one of those typefaces that has made its way into the Type Hall of Infamy. Its overuse and inappropriate use has given this typeface its sour reputation. Questions come up such as: when is appropriate to use? Does any anyone know the answer? Like most things this is entirely subjective. some people would tell you never to use Comic Sans ever. I would say it has that Comic Sans has its place and time: comic books and children stories. Although there are other options that are more unique and possibly more appropriate.

Big name typography, used to not be so ubiquitous, such as: Papyrus, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Arial, and more. As a typeface becomes more and more common, using that typeface looks like you just picked the easiest and cheapest type to create a design. Your typography should always be chosen with a purpose. Comic Sans was not developed with the purpose to soften a blow or to use humor in corporate, plumbing, newsletters, and (other such inappropriate places).

Comic Sans was developed by Microsoft in 1994, but this typeface has experienced hate for over ten years (1999).I don't think comic sans deserves all the hate that it gets, who deserves the hate is all the jerks designing posters with Comic Sans. Comic Sans is perfectly acceptable if you using this for comic books and children events.  Avoid using this on office notes (it just makes people mad), on bathroom notices (it will just make people puke), and avoid using it for any designs for profit.


Enjoy this video, but I think I keep flopping on how I feel about this typeface. I don't hate it, but I would never use it either. (Not that I haven't used it before...dark days)

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