I love Helvetica. I love it so much that I have a Pintrest board entitled “Helvetica Turns Me On.” I like it’s double story a, its narrow t’s and lonely bracketed top serif of 1. I do believe you could use Helvetica for almost anything and when I am in doubt I do. And instead of spending the next blog post gushing over Helvetica, I thought I would take a different route and give a Comic Sans a chance.
I hate Comic Sans. I hate it so much that I’ve already written a blog post mocking it. I hate how it holds its weight in awkward places. I hate how the letters don’t fit together particularly well. I hate the fact that at some point in the past I’m sure I just jumped on the Comic Sans hate bandwagon for no other reason than everyone else was doing it.
And so, this blog post I dedicate to you Comic Sans – I am going to try to be as unbiased as possible. I am going to delve into your history, look at your origins, your intentions and re-evaluate your place in my life.
Comic Sans, you are a sans-serif casual script typeface. Your father, Vincent Connare was looking to create a typeface that reflected the lettering found in traditional comic books when he gave birth to you. In 1994, your father and Microsoft Corporation introduced you to the world and you have been abused ever since.
You see, Comic Sans, I find that you were never given a chance. Connare intended for you to be kept hidden in the font catalogs of comic book designers who understood your purpose and would never let you roam outside of a comic books speech or thought bubble. But something went horribly wrong and instead you were released into the wild and from there it was all down hill. Your carefree, playful nature clashed with serious signs about swimming pool rules, it looked out of place on the back of basketball jerseys, you belittled future employees on government job applications and mocked the dead on grave markers.
I have come to see that it isn’t you I hate Comic Sans. It is every person who has abused the little power Microsoft gave to them as a designer. How can we expect people to make informed decisions about typefaces when they haven’t been educated on the matter. I guess, the royal we just assumed that the general we understand that all fonts have a personality. And furthermore, when you are selecting a font you must make sure that your font personality matches the personality of your content. But as in so many other situations in life, the royal we assumed that the general we was much smarter than they actually are.
And so Comic Sans, I apologize. For every joke I have made at your expense. For every time I have mocked the way you awkwardly carry your weight. For every time I have smirked at your awkward natural kerning. To be honest it endearing. In a speech bubble, tucked inside the pages of a comic book you look right at home. You are playful, innocent and young.
But unfortunately Comic Sans, I can’t promise to change my ways. For as long as people are dumb enough to use you on violent crime reduction act notices and “Caution: Danger” signs I will continue to mock your existence. But please know that deep down, I am not mocking you, I am really laughing at the horribly uneducated designer who selected you.