Now if you're like me, this video still did not change my opinion on the tackiness of Comic Sans at all. I did however, gain a little bit of respect for it than before. Now that I know where it came for and what it's original purpose was, I'm feeling a little less disdain towards it than before. Plus what this guy said was true, people who know absolutely nothing about design using creative fonts like Comic Sans is a step in the right direction towards design literacy. It's a small step, but a step none the less.
04 March 2013
Comic Sans: Misunderstood or Just Plain Tacky?
If you were to name one font that you absolutely detest and makes you cringe when you see it used in a public space, what would it be? If you are like most of the designers (or just people with taste in general) I know, your answer would be Comic Sans. I know that personally, Comic Sans is on my definitely-never-ever-use-this-typeface list. But how many people have actually stopped and thought about why we hate this typeface so much? Sure - it's poorly kerned, unprofessional and looks tacky. But why did anyone ever design it in the first place? Did it ever have a purpose? I stumbled upon this video a few weeks ago and thought that I would share:
Now if you're like me, this video still did not change my opinion on the tackiness of Comic Sans at all. I did however, gain a little bit of respect for it than before. Now that I know where it came for and what it's original purpose was, I'm feeling a little less disdain towards it than before. Plus what this guy said was true, people who know absolutely nothing about design using creative fonts like Comic Sans is a step in the right direction towards design literacy. It's a small step, but a step none the less.
Now if you're like me, this video still did not change my opinion on the tackiness of Comic Sans at all. I did however, gain a little bit of respect for it than before. Now that I know where it came for and what it's original purpose was, I'm feeling a little less disdain towards it than before. Plus what this guy said was true, people who know absolutely nothing about design using creative fonts like Comic Sans is a step in the right direction towards design literacy. It's a small step, but a step none the less.
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I still do not like Comic Sans either, but this video does a good job of trying to gain respect for it. I think that people outside the design world don't really know the difference and use the font just because they like it. It's not all that bad, it's just not for me.
ReplyDeleteI will more than likely never use comic sans in my life, especially knowing that everyone has such hatred for it. However, it is a typeface, and people outside the design world seem to have a weird attraction for it, and so this typeface, like many others will never be automatically off the table. I will just do everything in my power to avoid it and make it my last resort.
ReplyDeleteThis video also doesn't change my opinion on the typeface. This was an interesting post though and I like hearing other's opinions on the typeface. I definitely gained some respect for the typeface.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that video, it definitely makes you rethink Comic Sans. I still don't really think I could justify using it, especially when there are a ton of better-designed alternatives out there.
ReplyDeleteThe video does bring up a good point in that one of the most important aspects of a typeface is legibility, which Comic Sans does have going for it. However, there are plenty of better alternatives that can keep a similar style without being so unreasonably ugly. Silver Age is a great font for instance... it probably took the designer more than 3 days work to finish it too.
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