The Worst Font in the World?

    

Photo courtesy of espn.com

A few months ago, during all that media coverage of Lebron James' "Decision," Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavliers, wrote a scathing letter about his departure to disappointed fans in Cleveland.

    Somehow, it lacked punch. It wasn't the biting prose and the bruising tone of it. It was the font. Which was entirely in Comic Sans. The ridicule towards Gilbert lasted for weeks, for the use of a font deemed more appropriate for a six-year old.

    But what's so bad about it? Who could hate the friendly font that headed childhood lemonade stands or made typed cards made on the computer look more personal? However, to some its use is offensive, immature and in very bad taste.
     Designed in 1994 by Vincent Connare, who worked at Microsoft as a typographic engineer, Comic Sans exploded in popularity: used everywhere from advertising, store fronts, college exams, and even medical documents. Simultaneously it inspired a backlash, with people ridiculing its use in professional settings and sites like Bancomicsans.com, springing up.

Photo courtesy of passiveaggressivenotes.com

    Written words can never fully recreate the bodily experience of hearing and seeing and feeling  words said to you by someone in person. However words take on a different meaning in Comic Sans; for example is someone sent you an e-mail ending with "I'll see you later," in Times New Roman it would have a very different feel than "I'll see you later," in Comic Sans. However if the intention was truly sincere, that could be made more clear with a friendly font like Comic Sans. Time New Roman, with its perfectly straight lines, curves, and rigid serifs looks less human than Comic Sans, with rounded edges where feet would be, slight irregularities where lines are straight in Time New Roman, and asymmetry in curves. It lacks sophistication and is often printed in bright colors. It captures the imperfection and human presence in handwriting.

Photo courtesy of Rebecca Creger

    It's more misused than it is a bad font, for it does have its place in the world. However, its design makes it impossible for it to give off a serious vibe, something that would not lend a professional manner to a slide-show presentation to a room full of investors, or an angry team owner like Dan Gilbert who public role demands a businesslike professionalism to give him credibility. Otherwise he would just seem like another angry intoxicated fan booing Lebron in his first game with the Miami heat. The importance of recognizing the different roles that different syntax and fonts give you is very obvious in this case. Here, the many aspects of the written word are designed to play different roles in society, roles that will keep being evolving and being misused for decades to come.

See articles:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11582548
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-09/tech/comic.sans.cavs.james_1_font-comic-book-letter?_s=PM:TECH