For many, Comic Sans not a pretty face
Comic Sans began 15 years ago as a project by Microsoft to add a note of informality for its ill-fated computer companion Bob.
But while Bob was euthanized years ago, Comic Sans has remained a staple of faux informality in the computer age, despite a decade-long effort to press the delete key on the comic book-style font. There's even a Ban Comic Sans Web site.
But as many people as hate it, more still use the font, only fueling the anger of its detractors.
The Wall Street Journal has a Page One story on Friday tracing the typeface, its astronomic popularity, and the backlash it has engendered.
It tracks down the font's creator, Vincent Connare, who now works at a London type house. Connare expresses some amusement at the strong opinions on both sides of the debate
"If you love it, you don't know much about typography," he told the Journal. "If you hate it, you really don't know much about typography, either, and you should get another hobby."
Even in our newsroom, Comic Sans has proved to be quite divisive. While it made a list of things that my colleague Caroline McCarthy hates the most, it also has some fans. "It's fun," insists editor Michelle Meyers. "Not for everyday use, but for things like invitations..."
I can't resist passing along the following one-liner, taken from the Journal article.
"Comic sans walks into a bar, bartender says, 'we don't serve your type.'"
And, for more font funnies, check out this video from College Humor.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
I say we implement a ban on stupid causes.
<style>
}
body {
font-family: "Comic Sans MS", cursive;
}
</style>
why not we are crying for every other issue 2 people find in common.
Captions and copyright notices
Normal body text
Labels in graphs and charts
Signs (Yeah, near me there is a shop sign done in Comic Sans!)
If you use it to suggest something hand written (there are nicer choices - but Comic Sans is very readable), a note, part of a comic layout - well then Comic Sans is just fine. Like a lot of things, a little Comic Sans goes a long way.
We Mac users often have too much time on our hands... Comes with using a more productive computer.
{not joking}
DON'T USE IT!
and leave the rest of us alone.
Every time I get a new computer, I go to my 'Fonts' folder and delete it so I don't have to look at it. However, I still have to put up with it every once in a while, like when people use it on images.
Call me boring, but I prefer to stick to fonts like Times New Roman, Book Antiqua, Garamond, etc.
- by infohighwayroadkill May 3, 2009 10:47 AM PDT
- My recollection, which goes back to pre-DOS, is that Comic Sans bears a close resemblance to Pencil Point, a somewhat lighter font that went the way of the Atari. Comic Sans is a clear, highly legible, font that suggests hand printing, a laborious form of communication that is almost extinct now.
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- by infohighwayroadkill May 3, 2009 1:58 PM PDT
- By my estimate, there must be more than TEN THOUSAND free TTF fonts available via the internet for PC-type computers. I already have strong negative opinions about many of them. However, that still leaves me more than Nine Thousand to choose from, without losing my cool.
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