‘Just My Type’
7th September 2011
NPR shores up its reputation for quirkiness with an article about type fonts.
But with great power comes great responsibility … and some didn’t use their typeface forces for good. To wit: Comic Sans. If you’ve ever printed signs to advertise a yard sale or sent invitations to your child’s birthday party, chances are you’ve employed the wildly popular Comic Sans. The playful letters became so overused that it inspired a backlash. Garfield is hardly a fan, but he comes to Comic Sans’ defense.
“The key thing with Comic Sans and with all fonts is really the use to which it’s put,” he says. “If you used it … to invite people to your school fair, that was great. [It was] not so great, however, when it began appearing on the sides of ambulances and gravestones.” Garfield recalls one member of the Ban Comic Sans “movement” saying: “If you use it in the wrong place it’s like inviting a clown to a funeral.”
I happen to like Comic Sans. Apparently this means I’m not among the Cool Kids.