With the wealth of beautifully designed classic fonts, why do people still insist on using screen fonts for print jobs? This shows a lack of typography education in the general public. Does there need to be some sort of distinction between the two? This piece of  work will focus on the fact that Comic Sans is not a bad font it is instead inappropriately used.

Traditionally type faces were designed for print and easily read at varying sizes. Screen fonts designed over the past 20 years are pixilated and therefore designed for ease of legibility. The problem starts when a screen font such as Comic Sans is used for print, when it should be used for on screen text.

With the invention and ever expanding evolution of the  computer, word processing software and printing technology, it is now more important than ever to understand that the font that is used in the documents that people create can affect the message and tone of that we are communicating.

Comic Sans MS

Is Comic Sans MS really that bad a font or has it just been used so much for the wrong  situation that we are just sick of it being misused?

For example, a police report on an accident, produced using this font may be considered as inappropriate although it does lighten the subject matter with its jovial presentation rather than using something more sinister looking.  The choice of using Comic Sans MS in this letter is completely inappropriate to its content but Comic Sans still has its place and still looks good when used in certain contexts or situations.

Comic Sans used on a shop sign like the one below is just a bad idea. it looks ugly and does not suit this particular business.

Anouther example of a poor use of Comic Sans

and on a grave stone  each of these shows a complete lack of attention to font use and  feeling for the situation.

Using the web site http://comicsans.de/ which allows the user to convert any websites font into Comic Sans.  Here is  the ever wonderful Disciples of Design website to show the proper use of the font.

A  History

Comic Sans MS was originally designed to be used in a program released with Windows 95 called Microsoft Bob and was to be used in speech bubbles after a typographer Vincent Connare on the team looked at this and decided that the font that was being used Times New Roman was not appropriate. He set about designing a new font based on comic book fonts taken from the Watchmen comics and Batman comics, examples of which can seen below.

What is Microsoft Bob?

Microsoft Bob was a program which mimicked an office space on your home computer desktop. This would allow you to manage tasks such as email, bills, letter writing and a calendar from one central program. It was released with Microsoft Windows 3.1 and 3.11 the program was not particularly successful. After these editions of Windows it was gradually fazed out. Comic Sans was not ready in time for the release of Microsoft Bob so it never appeared in the program but was later released as a font for the general public with Windows 3.11 onwards.

Unfortunately the font was not ready for the release of Microsoft Bob and was instead released with Windows 95 and was then available for the general public to use.

The Font Itself

Comic Sans MS was not designed to be a printed font it was only released to really be an on screen font and as Windows 95 did not have any anti-aliasing the font actually looked very different, as can be seen below.

Anti alising

“Anti  alissing  creates  the  appreance  of smooth cruves on screen by changing the  brightness of the  pixels or  sub-pixels along the  edges of  each letter  from” TAKEN  FROM  THINKING  WITH TYPE  BY  ELEN LUPTON P73

The font looks very different with anti-aliasing, even acceptable, when viewed side by side with Garamond. If anything it is easier to read a page of text with Comic Sans MS in this form than it is to read the same passage with Garamond.

kerning

“is  an adjustment  of  the space between  two  letter” taken  from  thinking  withtype p102 Elelen Lupton

despite its defualt  kerning comic  sans  still  can  look  aceptable  once   corrected  and  used in the  right  situation

Comic Sans MS vs Helvetica The most hated font vs the most loved

Both fonts have a unmodulated stroke compared to Garamond which has a modulated stroke, as seen in the images below.

For example, the word ‘possession’ written in both fonts to show the differences:

first Helvetica

possession

and now in Comic Sans

possession

Comic Sans MS is weighted poorly when compared to Helvetica when comparing the two sections below it can be seen that the two look very different.

However Comic Sans was designed at a time when anti-aliasing was widely used and  was originally intended to be a on-screen font that would appeal to children.

Opinions

There are several opinions on the subject of the incorrect use of fonts which does not only apply to Comic Sans MS. There are people who have issues with the poor application of  fonts. (http://modernl.com/article/5-terrible-fonts-that-you-should-not-use-in-print-design)

In Conclusion

Comic Sans is a bad font when printed but was never meant for any other purpose apart from the use in speech bubbles in Microsoft Bob and as a playful on-screen font for children in the first place.

Its easy to read and the spacing allows the reader’s eye to follow over the text easily. There are also studies that show Comic Sans is easier for the dyslexic user to read.

Comic Sans was meant to only be a computer font and was designed before aliasing was introduced widely to computer systems.

Comic Sans is often misused for a wide variety of reasons and often used incorrectly. Take for instance the group that is now supporting Comic Sans (link below).

http://comicsansproject.tumblr.com/post/14115033083

References

Images

matt mc. (2009). Most Inappropriate Use of a Typeface. Available: http://typophile.com/node/62581. Last accessed Jan 25th 2012.

Cory Doctorow. (2005). Comic sans gravestone, very contemporary names, Kensal Green Cemetary, London. Available: http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/8238052/. Last accessed 25th

Laura Kalbag. (2011). Notes from Ampersand conference — My Digest.Available: http://blog.laurakalbag.com/digest-from-ampersand-conf/. Last accessed 25th jan 2012.

multiple. (2012). none. Available: http://www.thedisciplesofdesign.co.uk/. Last accessed Jan 25th 2012.

none given. (2005). comic sansa website. Available: http://comicsans.de/. Last accessed 25th jan 2012.

David Kadavy. (2011). Why You Hate Comic Sans Why You Hate Comic Sans . Available: http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/why-you-hate-comic-sans/. Last accessed 16th January 2012.

frank miller. (unknow). Batman-Knight-Returns-Frank-Miller. Available: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Batman-Knight-Returns-Frank-Miller/dp/1852867981. Last accessed 25th Jan 2012.

Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons. (unknow). watchmen. Available: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Watchmen-Alan-Moore/dp/1852860243/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330287804&sr=1-1. Last accessed 25th Jan

Books

elen Lupton (2010). thinking with type . 3rd ed. none: princeton architectural Press. p102,p73.

Type and Typography (2005). Phil Baines & Andrew Haslam . 2nd ed. london: laurence king publishingltd. p101.

websites 

Cameron Chapman . (2009). Comic Sans: The Font Everyone Loves to Hate. Available: http://sixrevisions.com/graphics-design/comic-sans-the-font-everyone-loves-to-hate/. Last accessed 15th febuary 2012.

Comic Sans Comic Sans Comic sans . (no date ). Comic Sans: The Font Everyone Loves to Hate. Available: http://www.identifont.com/show?1MH. Last accessed 16th jan 2012.

Comic Sans Comic Sans Comic sans . ( 2011). An interview with Vincent Connare, creator of the Comic Sans font on what he thinks of it now, future of typography. Available: http://postdesk.com/blog/comic-sans-creator-vincent-connaire-typography. Last accessed 16th jan

JESUS DIAZ. ( 2011). if fonts were dogs comic sans would be a whateverthefuckthatis. Available: http://gizmodo.com/5801666/if-fonts-were-dogs-comic-sans-would-be-a-whateverthefuckthatis . Last accessed 16th jan 2012.

none given. (2004). i-hate-comic-sans.font. Available: http://www.dafont.com/i-hate-comic-sans.font. Last accessed 16th jan

LUKE PLUNKETT. (2011). i-hate-comic-sans.font. Available: http://kotaku.com/5869955/comic-sans-even-ruins-video-game-logos/gallery/4. Last accessed 16th jan 2012.

aprill fools google

none given. (2011). Comic Sans for Everyone. Available: http://www.google.com/landing/csfe/. Last accessed 16th jan 2012

none given. (2012). kill-comic-sans. Available: http://www.agencyfusion.com/kill-comic-sans.html. Last accessed 16th

comic sans pro

Stephen Shankland. (2011). Google’s joking, but Monotype isn’t: Comic Sans Pro . Available: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20049593-264.html. Last accessed Jan 16th 2012.

None given. (2012). comicsansproject. Available: http://comicsansproject.tumblr.com/. Last accessed jan 16th 2012.comic sans documentry

Anita Brown. (2008). Comic Sans. Available: http://vimeo.com/1994310. Last accessed 16th Jan 2012.

none given. (none given). comicsanscriminal. Available: http://comicsanscriminal.com/. Last accessed 16th Jan 2012

David Kadavy. (2011). Why You Hate Comic Sans Why You Hate Comic Sans . Available: http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/why-you-hate-comic-sans/. Last accessed 16th January 2012.

none given. (none). Microsoft Bob. Available: http://toastytech.com/guis/bob.html. Last accessed 16th Jan 2012.

Vincent Connare. (2003). Why Comic Sans?. Available: http://www.connare.com/whycomic.htm. Last accessed 16th Jan 2012.Share on Facebook