Nobody likes Comic Sans, and we’re not talking about the font itself. No, we’re discussing that too many people use it in inappropriate scenarios or to express themselves, and it has just become one of those things people love to hate. Do you know how most fonts have a perfect time and place for which they were meant? Comic Sans was just never one of them.
Let’s be clear: we’re not bashing people who use Comic Sans. Its overuse makes the world that much uglier. Unfortunately, it’s used so often in comedy, advertisements, Web sites, and even on the signs of businesses that it has been permanently imprinted on our minds as a “comical” font. (That’s why it has silly phrases like “smiley faces” in its character map. No other font out there is associated with jokes. It’s all Comic Sans’s fault.)
Comic Sans is a typographic abomination. It’s the typeface equivalent of a man who looks like he’s wearing his girlfriend’s clothes. The original designers, Vincent Connare and Charles Bigelow may have intended it to be used for comic books, but it was just too ugly and unappealing to do that. So instead, it has been used in everything from business memos to party invitations.
But Comic Sans is not cool (or funny). It’s just annoying, and we’ve compiled a list of reasons why:
- Comic Sans misrepresents every situation. It’s like if Ke$ha sang the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. It’s just not right.
- It’s not even a great font to use in comics because it doesn’t have that “cartoony” look that many comics require, and comic book fonts can be hard to read anyway (e.g., try reading a Superman comic in another font than the published one).
- Comic Sans’ red balloons sometimes pop differently than they should. You’re not a clown, so why do you make us think of circus animals?
- It’s hard to read text set in Comic Sans Black because the letters that form each word are often so close together that your eyes need to go back and forth too much.
- Comic Sans has become such a joke that the font is overused by people who don’t know any better. We’re not talking about the font nerds or web geeks or those in creative professions. We’re talking about everybody, from accounts receivable to cable guys, who still need to be taught to be tasteful and choose an appropriate typeface.
- Comic Sans used to be ugly; now it’s just annoying. It has even become stylized, so it doesn’t look like two-dimensional comic book lettering.
- Comic Sans makes everyone who uses it look bad. If you’re reading this and use Comic Sans regularly, read that sentence again and realize how silly it sounds.
- It’s not a font. It’s a joke, and jokes don’t belong in serious situations. Then again, people probably use Comic Sans in difficult situations because they think it’s funny. You’re just not brilliant if you can’t distinguish between humor and tragedy.
- Is it just us, or does everything in Comic Sans look like Bart Simpson drew it? From the balloons to the page frames to the characters, everything about it is just too cartoony for us to take seriously . . . and when you think about it, Bart Simpson is the epitome of that.
- Comic Sans looks like what a 5-year-old would draw, and if you’re using it to express yourself on Web sites or in other public places, then we’re guessing you’d probably be a pretty easy target for kidnapping and ransom. But we hope no one kidnaps you because you’re probably not rich.
- Comic Sans is the most accessible font to steal on the Internet, which is why it’s so prevalent. Just do a Google search for “Comic Sans” and try not to throw up when you see how many Web sites use it.
- Comic Sans doesn’t know when to quit. It’s not just that Comic Sans is everywhere; we also need help to get rid of it once it gets started.
Although impossible to quantify, it is estimated that 92% of the world’s typography experts hate Comic Sans. It is a blight upon all humanity.