Typographers will cringe, but I've always had a soft spot for Comic Sans. It was the first font I ever used. I was aged seven and making mayhem at my dad's office. My exasperated father sat me at his computer, threw me a copy of the day's paper and said: "See if you can't do better." Cue my first 'broadsheet': a Xeroxed slip of A3 that chronicled imaginary boardroom bust-ups, and real-life photocopier meltdowns.
In traditional typographical terms, it was a disaster. My headline font? Comic Sans. My body-text typeface? Comic Sans. My byline? Again, Comic Sans. But given the circumstances, I think my decision was justified. Of the handful of fonts in the Windows 95 package, only Comic Sans – with its rounded edges and its handwritten aesthetic – seemed friendly and accessible to my seven-year-old self. There was something called Helvetica, but that was too bland. And I toyed with this sophisticated thing called Garamond, but eventually found it too formal. Comic Sans, though – that seemed about right.
Of course, in 2010 my choice seems horribly crude. As Holly Combs, one of the founders of the Ban Comic Sans movement, tells me from Indianapolis, "Using Comic Sans is like turning up to a black-tie event in a clown costume." Indeed, Comic Sans is now the bete noir of the design world, widely known as the font typographers love to hate. It's used, supposedly unthinkingly, by thousands of amateurs every day, sometimes in the most inappropriate of places – on gravestones, on commemorative benches, and even funeral invitations. The program in which Comic Sans first appeared – Microsoft Bob – was named as one of Time magazine's 50 worst inventions. And most terrible of all, according to one designer I spoke to, the spacing between each of the font's letters is uneven.
It's not all bad, though: recent weeks have heralded a mini resurgence for the font. This spring, a major American gallery – Miami's Museum of Contemporary Art – temporarily redesigned its website, replacing Helvetica with Comic Sans. And only last Tuesday, literary website McSweeney's published a strongly worded pseudo-first-person defence of the typeface. Concluding that a light breeze of change was sweeping through typographical discourse, I set about persuading the design establishment that Comic Sans deserves a reappraisal.
For most designers, however, the idea is laughable – not least because, in their eyes, Comic Sans is simply not a very pretty font. As Paul Barnes – who co-designed the very font you're reading – explains, "On a purely aesthetic level Comic Sans is not a particularly well-crafted letterform. It's based on lettering one might find in a comic book, but it has none of the fluidity you associate with the real thing." Julian Morey, a typographer who has worked with Vogue, the V&A and Giorgio Armani, agrees: "I don't like slagging off typefaces, but in aesthetic terms, there are much better handwritten fonts than Comic Sans." And he should know: Creative Review once challenged him to design a poster that made Comic Sans look beautiful – and his only solution was to render the font unrecognisable, concluding that: "You can't make your mark on Comic Sans. Comic Sans is Comic Sans. It's not very flexible."
Little wonder, though: the font was made in a hurry. Inspired by the lettering in the graphic novel Watchmen, Vincent Connare – then Microsoft's inhouse designer – created the font within three days back in 1994 to accompany the company's child-friendly Microsoft Bob. Only later was the font packaged with Microsoft Word, and it was a fateful decision: Ty's Beanie Babies soon used it as their brand font; I used it in my newspaper; and once Disney picked it up, Comic Sans was unstoppable. While trained typographers think it's an over-used, poorly designed eyesore, millions of Microsoft users quickly saw Comic Sans as the typographical equivalent of the emoticon – the easy communication of friendliness – and it's adorned pizza menus, misguided CVs, and passive-aggressive notes ever since.
For Combs, who heads the slightly tongue-in-cheek Ban Comic Sans movement with her husband Dave, every use is a misuse. "You see it in the most inappropriate places. I once read a leaflet about irritable bowel syndrome that had been written in Comic Sans. Now that's just wrong."
But I've always thought that Comic Sans has its place. The written word can seem aggressive unless it's displayed in an accessible way – and so by using Comic Sans, which connotes warmth and friendliness, lay designers aren't necessarily displaying a lack of imagination, but rather an awareness of graphic design's central goal: the easy and reliable communication of information. If you don't have an extensive font library, then Comic Sans might be your only choice. It doesn't display ignorance, just a lack of alternatives.
But when I speak to Connare, the father of Comic Sans, he doesn't completely agree. He admits he is irritated by some critics of the font, but not because he thinks it's always used effectively, or because it's great design. In fact, Connare takes the opposite view: "It's like they're comparing a kid's drawing to Picasso or the Sistine Chapel when they're not in the same category." And he's otherwise slightly lukewarm about his creation. "I'm proud of it," he told me from Dalton Maag, his London typography studio, "but only because it suited its purpose at the time. We were trying to make a product, and Comic Sans suited the product. But I'd agree that it's often misused. I saw it recently in a bank – and that's not a great use of the font."
And so it takes another typographer to mount a firmer defence of Comic Sans. American Corey Holms – who, like Morey, was challenged by Creative Review to make Comic Sans look beautiful – thinks that the font is still relevant outside Microsoft Bob. "Comic Sans is not a 'beautiful' font, but there are appropriate uses for it," he tells me. "Most of the designers who mock Comic Sans don't seem to understand that the person using it is not necessarily displaying poor taste, but rather trying to communicate at a rudimentary level with the tools available to them. Comic Sans is proof positive that design works, the public gets it and understands that type means more than just words."
And perhaps Lacher, speaking for the Comic Sans typeface in the recent McSweeney's article, sums it up best: "You think I'm pedestrian and tacky? Guess what, Picasso. We don't all have 73 weights of stick-up-my-ass Helvetica sitting on our 17in MacBook Pros."
Comments
21 June 2010 9:45AM
It has it's uses.......
A better argument could be made for banning Helvetica/Arial in all it's obnoxious guises.
Yes, the original was designed by a cutter whose sight was failing, to maximise his reading ability.
NO, this does not apply to all eyesight problems,
In the few studies that have been carried out Serif fonts (primarily Times Roman) have been found to be the best for recognition for the vast majority of people.
'Everyone knows' that we should all use Helvetica to help the 'nice disabled people'.
It's all Bunkum.
I am disabled, I am not 'nice' AND if anyone bothers to do the research they will find out that many PEOPLE are 'disabled' by Helvetica and it's ilk.
21 June 2010 9:48AM
It's not even a good comic font. Use a decent one instead, if you must.
http://www.blambot.com/fonts_dialogue.shtml
21 June 2010 9:54AM
Nice article. One of those where I sympathise with what you are trying to say but will never overcome my personal revulsion.
My particular irritation with Comic Sans is that my kids' schools use it relentlessly for newsletters, notices and the like. Doubtless it's just their deafult font and the staff have not given it a second's thought, but to use it in communications to adults just comes across as uncomfortably witless.
Favourite use, and I'll try and post a link if I can find it, is on a Class War flyer! Sort of, "OK, let's shoot the fascist pigs, and then we'll share a nice Arctic Roll".
21 June 2010 9:57AM
I've never been a fan of Comic Sans, but a movement to ban it seems a bit extreme. It isn't as painful as a misplaced apostrophe, or as useless as dingbats. The use of Comic Sans can be compared to the use of non-standard English. To some, it indicates ignorance, while to others it addresses them in a dialect they understand.
My font of choice is Computer Modern. It's a beautiful font, but the fact that it isn't very widespread means you have a ready conversation topic whenever you encounter it. I can't imagine Knuth has any regrets about creating it.
21 June 2010 10:01AM
....although perhaps Knuth does have some regrets about the original typeface.
"I made important corrections to all those fonts in the spring of 1992, but alas, I still see many books, journals, and preprints using the old versions. Please help me abolish the old forms from the typefaces of the earth...the old delta was so ugly, I couldn't stand to write papers using that symbol; now I can't stand to read papers that still do use it."
I suppose this is the difference between a perfectionist and someone working on a corporate schedule.
Oh, and I also find Helvetica pretty ugly. I'd much rather read Times New Roman.
21 June 2010 10:04AM
Amusing piece.
However, Comic Sans is a good font to use with children with reading difficulties, so teachers will often use it on Powerpoints and worksheets. For this reason, a 'ban' seems severe...
21 June 2010 10:05AM
Here:
http://tinyurl.com/3aoz2p2
Genius.
21 June 2010 10:10AM
@ Llwynog
Have you got any links for this? Mrs Mmmmf is involved with wayfinding for the NHS and their design guide, if I remember correctly, pretty much bans all Serif fonts.
21 June 2010 10:16AM
Comic Sans is sh1t.
And so is this article!
THE END.
21 June 2010 10:16AM
Although I'm not a personal fan of Comic Sans, it is a hero amongst fonts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3k5oY9AHHM
21 June 2010 10:23AM
Filth.
21 June 2010 10:28AM
It must be a slow news day .. Christine Bleakley, Trinny and Susannah and Comic Sans all on the same front page.... Sheesh
21 June 2010 10:37AM
True, but thanks to Microsoft, I'm forced to stay with Office 2003 - not that it's any hardship - because the buggers dumped Times New Roman in Office 2007, a font I've used almost exclusively since 1992 (yes, I know I could install a third-party version, but that's not really the point).
@Norsked WTF?
21 June 2010 10:37AM
Horrible font that is incredibly overused
21 June 2010 10:55AM
I have to confessed that I have an irrational hatred of Comic Sans. When people use it, I pretty much see it as a direct insult to me... like they'd just farted down my glans. It really is the James Blunt of typefaces.
21 June 2010 11:14AM
Why didn't you have this article set in Comic Sans ?
21 June 2010 11:19AM
Apologies LePendu, allow me to expand on my previous post:
Comic sans = filth.
I'm with mofgimmers on this one, a very active dislike. If someone advertises using it I will not buy their product as my reaction is to suppose that it's as shoddy as their choice of font. In fact, anything written using it I automatically fail to take seriously, unless it's a joke in which case I'll struggle to see the humour.
Comic sans kills all text.
21 June 2010 11:26AM
And another thing - why do people so often use it in in shades of pink or purple?
21 June 2010 11:28AM
A handy flowchart on when to use Comic Sans:
http://i.imgur.com/W6zzI.jpg
It is good for children who are learning to read as it uses child-friendly versions of the letters, but there are much more beautiful fonts that can do the same thing. If only more of them were default system fonts...
21 June 2010 11:31AM
Let's try that again. Guardian commenting system didn't like the previous URL: Get any site in Comic Sans.
21 June 2010 11:42AM
ExpatBen - very good. I hate you.
21 June 2010 11:44AM
In 2002, The Sunglass Hut brought out a training manual written entirely in CS. And that's the short version of why I stopped working at The Sunglass Hut.
21 June 2010 12:00PM
I just hate sans-serif fonts where I (uppercase i) and l (lowercase L) are identical. Illegible and those other words that start ill and can appear as the first word in a sentence always bring my word recognition process to a halt. I can just about stand their use in headlines, but never in body text.
21 June 2010 12:02PM
Moccasins!
I don't like those either
21 June 2010 12:07PM
The Ivory Coast shirt for the current World Cup uses something approaching Comic Sans for its squad numbers and player names: http://www.myfootballtops.co.uk/images/10884.jpg
21 June 2010 12:34PM
Aenn
21 Jun 2010, 9:57AM
It is pretty, but I find it a bit wispy. My favourite is still Times New Roman - sensible and heavyweight.
Helvetica, always makes me think of Look Around You.
21 June 2010 12:37PM
ExpatBen
21 Jun 2010, 11:31AM
There's some people outside who want to talk to you. They don't seem very pleased...
21 June 2010 1:00PM
Comis Sans is regularly used in literature distributed to adults (and children) as the 'a' and 'g' are easier to identify in this font copared to others. Most people with reading difficulties can resognise and differentiate the letters of the alphabet, however tyes chosen need to be clear and the letters distinct. Chaning the screen background from white to another colour can often help by making the type easier to read. So whilst I agree it is ugly it is useful.
21 June 2010 1:22PM
For the last couple of years of my mother's life (in her 90s) I was able to send her regular letters she could read herself using Comic Sans, font size 14. Her eyes were too bad for any other font I tried but good old Comic Sans worked for her. I think it's great.
21 June 2010 1:27PM
If I am not mistaken, didn't we have a very very similar article discussing Comic SS last year this time? With similar sentiments, albeit more humourous(?)
It's either that or it's dejavu all over again!
21 June 2010 1:45PM
Back when I was a young one, we used to use it in posters for the Edinburgh uni LGBT society. We wanted to take care to seem what we were - friendly, approachable and not very cool - to try and make the whole thing a bit less intimidating for people just coming out. So we did our posters on pink or yellow paper with Comic Sans and mildly amusing titles for the meetings.
21 June 2010 1:50PM
@LarryJayCee
So did my work colleague, Clint, some time back. Led to all sorts of confusion over his name when seen in some typefaces. (Try it with Caps Lock on....)
21 June 2010 2:53PM
@Aenn:
Wingdings (what you refer to as dingbats) does actually have one use that I have discovered so far as an easy way to display symbols using excel formulae. It is admittedly a very limited use but handy at times. I can't think of any other purpose so assume this must have been some of the thinking behind the font, if so it was actually a pretty smart idea.
21 June 2010 3:07PM
So Paul Barnes designed Arial, did he? I'm sure that'd be news to him …
21 June 2010 3:46PM
@AlexMC
Presumably this isn't a problem if you use a font which has symbols included? That seems like the superior solution to me, rather than a workaround.
21 June 2010 4:35PM
@Aenn
How many fonts cover the multitude of symbols available within Wingdings? They're more like clipart than a font. As I said it's a very limited use but it is one possible reason for its existence all the same.
21 June 2010 4:56PM
Wow. I've been reading internet pages in Comic Sans for about ten years now, and I've never been aware of any hatred for it. It always seemed friendly and harmless to me. This article has given me reason to try out other fonts, and I've now settled on one that is a little easier to read.
As for trying to ban it, WTF? There are worse things going on in the world.
Nope, that's actually quite funny. I have IBS and if somebody gave me that leaflet I'd probably snigger.
21 June 2010 5:30PM
@AlexMC Well, my beloved Computer Modern meets all my mathematical needs...not that I'm promoting it or anything ;)
21 June 2010 6:04PM
Comic Sans is terrible - for all the reasons mentioned before and many others, too many to mention. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!
@LarryJayCee
I partially agree and disagree - I like sans-serif fonts, but I also like an uppercase 'i' with serifs, to distinguish it from the lowercase 'l'. I've never found a font like that - it would be nice to have one.
Meanwhile, in a sans-serif font I often use, 'Twentieth Century MT', the uppercase 'i' is a tad thicker than the lowercase 'l', so it's easier to see the difference.
Another sans-serif font that's good is 'London Tube' based on, well, you know. In this case, the uppercase 'i' is a straight line, while the lowercase 'l' curls to the right at the bottom, making it unmistakable.
@CmdrDeLavel
I've always thought the character in the film "Election" called Tracy Flick was purposely named for the way her name would look in all caps...
And if you want a really interesting font, try "Village". It's based on the font used in The Village in "The Prisoner". One of the keys even brings up a Penny Farthing bicycle.
Be seeing you...
21 June 2010 6:23PM
It was an editorial!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/28/leader-praise-comic-sans-typography
21 June 2010 9:02PM
I had a math teacher who systematically typed all her assignments in comic sans. I guess that was her way of making maths "fun".
21 June 2010 10:33PM
Never has so much been written about a bad font. Arial, count yourself as plain lucky.
22 June 2010 1:47AM
wow it is difficult for me to understand typography snobs..and that McSweeney's article was insightful.
22 June 2010 12:13PM
Its up there with Mistral
22 June 2010 1:40PM
Comic Sans lovers: Ascender Corporation will be announcing a re-release of my fonts: Comic Sans 2010 and Trebuchet 2010 in their font pack for Microsoft Office 2010.
Comic Sans 2010 was expanded by Ascender Corp.
I didn't do it.
Facts about Comic Sans:
A study done at the University of Reading found people with dyslexia found Comic Sans easiest to read out of all other system fonts.
Berlin Tegel airport displayed H1N1 virus warnings during 2010 in Comic Sans.
Wimbledon 2009 Nikon used Comic Sans in the captions of the photos at Court 1
The Portuguese national basketball team used Comic Sans on it's shirts.
A band from Brisbane Australia are called Comic Sans.
Apple Computer used Comic Sans as the default font in Apple's initial release of iCards.
In 2000 the European Union strongly asked Microsoft to replace 'Euri the Euro' from the regular weight of Comic Sans.
The Microsoft Consumer Division was founded to make software that would be popular with the general public. Comic Sans was made for the Consumer Division of Microsoft's products and first shipped in Windows 95 OEM version, the Windows 95 Plus Pack with Internet Explorer and Microsoft 3D MovieMaker.
Well if you don't like Comic Sans what do you think of my latest work Magpie?
Magpie by Vincent Connare and Dalton Maag Ltd.
For you ravers I made the letters in the Ministry of Sound logo.
best regards,
vincent
22 June 2010 2:59PM
Magpie looks like a normal font, except for the dot on the i getting lost when it sits too close to an f.
22 June 2010 3:55PM
Dear Aenn,
This is what in typography is called a 'ligature' . What you are seeing is an fi ligature not and 'f' and an 'i'.
Ligatures were heavily used in letterpress type as a time saving device as well as an aesthetic one. Letters made of lead were manually placed to make up the entire text. Ligatures meant the composer had to only select one piece of type instead of two or three separate pieces.
There is a further description of ligatures in the article I wrote at Microsoft for the Microsoft Character Design Standards.
regards,
Vincent
22 June 2010 4:59PM
@VincentConnare I'm aware it was intentional (and has historic roots), I was just stating it as something I did not care for in the font (although overall I do not consider it a bad font). I could just as well have mentioned that it appears 'skinny' to me, and is therefore unlikely to become a personal favorite. However, I accept that everyone has their own preferences. I think that Magpie is unlikely to generate as much of a reaction as Comic Sans (either positive or negative) because it looks more like what is generally expected from a font.
22 June 2010 6:32PM
Dear Aenn,
Yes Magpie is condensed, this was intentional. I began designing the font in 1999 when I left Microsoft. In 1999 the first electronic books were being released and I was targeting those devices with Magpie.
With Magpie I wanted to make a text typeface that would be used on a computer display. With my past experiences working with User Interface designers there was always a constant need for condensed typefaces. This was because the application designers wanted to cram as much text into as little space as possible.
Aenn, you practically quoted me when I was interviewed by Bruno Maag on Magpie's release.
So yes it is skinny and hopefully it will work nicely on the iPad.
regards,
Vincent
tweets @VincentConnare
23 June 2010 5:03AM
I'd ban the basic web fonts, who thought them up, like the boring Arial I'm typing in now... and on top of that I'd ban Apple/Mac designers altogether, tiny fonts, tiny brains, bunch of anal retentive corporate neat freaks obsessed with grey,white and black... and did I mention grey? lol
Comic Sans is just a natural greenies bad web page antidote for corporate designer constipation, every taste free fruit loop should try it once but after a few days its best to dump it into the composted recycled toilet paper bin along with the rest of the current cult of dim designers in the world... Being Gay does not necessarily mean you are born with good taste! hahaha , I'm feeling so nasty today.... <insert rage="rage" italic="italic" here="here"></insert>