Comic Sans: The Font Everyone Loves to Hate
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It seems like every designer out there has an opinion about the Comic Sans font, and it seems the overwhelming majority of those opinions are negative. How has a single font become the focus of so much ire? And what, exactly, is behind all the hate?
A Brief History of Comic Sans
Comic Sans was created by Vincent Connare in 1994 for Microsoft. It was originally designed to be used with Microsoft Bob, but it was completed too late to be included in the program.
The font was based on lettering from comic books Connare had in his office, specifically Watchmen (lettered by Dave Gibbons) and The Dark Knight Returns (lettered by John Costanza).
On the left: Watchmen characters. On the right: The Dark Knight Returns cover
According to statements from Connare, he never intended the font to be released for general use, and only designed it to be used in comic-book-style speech bubbles within MS Bob.
Vincent Connare presenting in 2008.
The Life of Comic Sans in Microsoft Applications
The font ended up being included in Microsoft 3D Movie Maker, which used it in its pop-up windows and help sections. Later it was included with Windows 95 Plus! Pack and then became a standard font for the OEM version of Windows 95. Eventually it was included as a default font for Microsoft Publisher and Internet Explorer.
Some Well-Known Uses of Comic Sans
Comic Sans has been used on a number of well-known products. Beanie Babies have used the font on their tags since the late 1990’s. The 2004 Canada Day 25-cent collector coin also used the font. The Sims video game uses it as well.
The Origin of the Comic Sans Hate
One of the main reasons Comic Sans became the target of such hatred was its widespread usage, particularly when dealing with serious or formal subjects.
While Comic Sans was perfectly adequate in designs for children or designs related to comic books or cartoons, it had no place in business or professional work usage. It’s also ill-suited in content body text – it’s best used as a headline/heading font or short quote (such as in a comic book). But nevertheless, Comic Sans has cropped up all over the place.
The "Ban Comic Sans" Movement
The "Ban Comic Sans" movement started in 1999. It was reportedly started by Dave and Holly Crumbs, graphic designers from Indianapolis, after an employer insisted they use Comic Sans in a children’s museum exhibit.
While the group is a bit tongue-in-cheek, they do point out one of the biggest problems in amateur graphic design: disregard for appropriate typography choices. Where a professional designer will (usually) consider the impact their font and typography choices have on the overall tone of a project, an amateur will often just pick a font they like, disregarding the font’s impact on the final design.
Inappropriate Uses of Comic Sans
The single biggest complaint against Comic Sans is that Comic Sans portrays a very definite tone and feeling when it’s used; mainly, an immature, informal, childish mood.
A recent Flickr discussion in the Ban Comic Sans group talked about inappropriate uses in the wild.
Some of the uses shared were:
- Sign for swimming pool rules at a summer camp
- A grave marker
- Writing on a commemorative bench
- Sign for a bone marrow transplanet clinic
- Government job applications
- Teacher reviews for an art/graphic design department
A Showcase of Improper Usage of Comic Sans
Here are real-world examples of when you shouldn’t use Comic Sans.
By ocacsms
By Justin Henry
By Tom Magliery
By Liz Hall
By Marc Moss
By Marc Moss
By Raltaran
Technical and Aesthetic Drawbacks
While many who hate Comic Sans do so just because of its omnipresence, others hate it because of aesthetic and technical drawbacks. Both the kerning and weighting of the font are inconsistent, leading to a haphazard appearance in large swathes of text (or even small ones).
Todd Klein did an analysis of why Comic Sans isn’t even appropriate for comic books in his post, "Comic Sans Font Examined". It’s an interesting read, and points out some further shortcomings of the font.
Some Alternatives to Comic Sans
If you’re looking for a font that gives the same impression and feeling as Comic Sans but doesn’t come with all the negativity, give the following fonts a try.
Lexia Readable
P22 Kaz Pro
JM Doodle Medium
FF Friday Regular
Sharktooth Regular
Comic Strip
Ban Comic Sans has a list of Comic Sans alternatives available on their website.
Additional Resources about the Comic Sans Controversy
- Ban Comic Sans: An article by Dr. Christopher Scanlong on the font.
- Most Inappropriate Use of a Typeface: A thread on Typophile that includes multiple references to Comic Sans.
- Comic Sans: A profile of the font from Typophile.
- Not Funny: Fighting the Good Fight Against a Very Bad Font: An opinion piece by Mike Miliard on The Boston Phoenix site.
- The History of Comic Sans at ROFLThing NYC: A video history.
- Comic Sans, the Font of the Gods: A piece from Coding Horror.
Image Sources:
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58 Comments
Eric B.
December 1st, 2009
I’m with the people that also hate Comic Sans. I remember, in school, some people would hand in a couple of pages of text in Comic Sans, just because they loooove it so much.
Even worse is those people that would write an entire Papyrus.
Design Informer
December 1st, 2009
Nice! Thanks for providing those alternates.
I recently wrote a mock of Comic Sans. Pretty funny! You can check it out here. http://designinformer.com/comic-sans-history-examples-best-practices/
Matthew Heidenreich
December 1st, 2009
great post!
CodeDude
December 2nd, 2009
Great article there. Always wanted to know the history of the “hated font”. Thanks for the alternative font list also…I’m sure that will be helpful to me sometime.
Nico
December 2nd, 2009
You might as well add Papyrus to the most hated list.
Rob
December 2nd, 2009
Couldn’t someone just create the worlds first good worm that just crawled across the internet and all it does is delete comic sans from every computer it infects? And while it was at it maybe papyrus, impact, tekton, jokerman, curlz, bradley hand, snap itc, brush script, goudy stout…I’m sure I’m missing some.
Mark
December 2nd, 2009
for me, it’s the font that clients use when they do thir own design work. I think that’s why we hate it:) we see it too much!!!
Abdussalam
December 2nd, 2009
Hmmm…Interesting!! Another alternative to Comic Sans font is Tekton Pro. (I used in the header of my blog).
Monsieur M
December 2nd, 2009
really intersting…
This font is used and re-used in bad context.
Thanks for this post !
Doug Barned
December 2nd, 2009
Great run down of info, thanks very much.
Will now have a more up-to-date place to send clients who insist on using Comic Sans for something ridiculous.
/Doug
diesis
December 2nd, 2009
You just have to add this example: http://tiny.cc/KCtMe
This is a menacing letter sent to newspapers from an italian terrorist group.. the main line says “No to the coup d’etat, yes to the revolution”.. all written in COMIC SANS! ;)
Marina
December 2nd, 2009
Just to make sure: I h8 comic sans sice I was a child LOL =D
Deny Deyn
December 2nd, 2009
hi, i never knew about this
thx for info, really interesting
Tom
December 2nd, 2009
It is used in education so much as it is the only(thank i can think of) shipped font which forms the letter a as you would write it.
Valldeperas
December 2nd, 2009
Maybe we should do some “comic sans revival project”, can be interesting. I’ll keep the idea in mind.
Mohawk Kellye
December 2nd, 2009
At least it’s not Curls
simon saunders
December 2nd, 2009
Ban Comic Sans worldwide and make sure it’s not the last font you’ll ever see!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/totallygone/3473224520/
Rick
December 2nd, 2009
I have to agree with Nico. Papyrus is just the worst in being used in situations it should never be used in. It’s awful!
Great article. :)
Lianne
December 2nd, 2009
Someone just needs to create a book on font etiquette and the appropriate uses of fonts. Just so we are all on the same page, no pun intended.
Delia
December 2nd, 2009
Thanks for putting up this great article! I agree that Comic sans was used overwhelmingly for everything, especially inappropriate designs. But personally I think “hating” a typeface makes anyone sound like a high school student during critique: “I hate it..because…everyone else hates it.” The typeface is fun for certain designs. Don’t use it for everything and you won’t have to hate it it, right?
Crocodile Jock
December 2nd, 2009
Nice article. More fuel for the fire here, http://url.moosaico.com/12521 with links to several other great (and free) alternative fonts you may want to use. And a paid for one here: http://url.moosaico.com/12520
therapix
December 2nd, 2009
It’s hard to go through college and having to look at comic sans on EVERY slide on most of the lectures during 5 years…
Ched
December 2nd, 2009
You can also add this short documentary:
http://chedonline.com/lets-all-hate-on-comic-sans
spydergrrl
December 2nd, 2009
This College humor video makes a hero of Comic Sans:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1823766
Tenny
December 2nd, 2009
As I outlined in my blog there is a very clear time when it is OK to use Comic Sans:
http://tenny.org/blog/when-is-it-ok-to-use-comic-sans-font
ed
December 2nd, 2009
I agree with some people on here. Papyrus ins’t hated as it should be, i think it’s even more overused than comic sans.
Reid Klos
December 2nd, 2009
What’s interesting about this post is that I never paid that much attention to Comic Sans. It never had the clean, crisp, demanding presence that I like so I always overlooked it. Nevermind the fact that it is named COMIC Sans. That suggests more of a chill, whimsical, free idea.
Looking at the comments I’m surprised at how many professional people actually use that. I wouldn’t go as far as “Rob” suggests by getting rid of all of those creative fonts because they have a place, yet it is apparent that people need educating about the use of fonts and the impressions they carry and/or present.
Andrew Yates
December 2nd, 2009
Throughout school people would submit essays that contained only Comic Sans. Infact I had a teacher that also hated it.
Nice article. Nice to know its origins.
tom
December 2nd, 2009
comic sans is so awesome i use it in every rotating guitar GIF i make!
I don’t know why everybody hates it… ?
It makes me feel all fuzzy and warm inside!
Jon Crim
December 2nd, 2009
Every font has it’s place, including Comic Sans – just need to know when it’s appropriate.
Kerri
December 2nd, 2009
On a basketball uniform? The horror! I mean, really!
Emma Sugarman
December 2nd, 2009
I have to agree with creator Connare when he says, “If you love it, you don’t know much about typography, but if you hate it, you really don’t know much about typography, either, and you should get another hobby.”
Also, the “No Table…” photograph taken by Marc Moss is not Comic Sans.
Twice
December 2nd, 2009
Only the worst designers hate Comic Sans. Those are the same that probably love Helvetica as well.
If you’re really creative then why would you join in on the opinion of tens of thousands of others?
Anonymous
December 2nd, 2009
I was forced to use Papyrus on a logo once because a client loved it so much. I did a quick search and it seems this logo never made it to google image cache. I wonder why.
Rob
December 2nd, 2009
Maybe my suggestion was drastic, but it comes from a deeply rooted hate for them. I guess they do have their place, but even if that situation presented itself I still would use something else. I would also agree the hate for them comes from years of misuse by really bad designers.
Chrispis
December 3rd, 2009
A friend of mine owns a t-shirt company. one day a man of a Harley Davidson Motorcycle club asked him to put some type along some visuals on a t-shirt. He was asked to use comic sans because it is so fun looking font. Totally misplaced imho. :D
@twice,.. it has nothing to with being creative or not,… you could better hate comic sans than go against tens of thousands and love it, like you are stating.
Elliott
December 3rd, 2009
Just to be different… I like Comic Sans Serif.. it’s easily read, ideal for dyslexics etc. It is overused though and I’d only use it for headlines etc.
Lauren Jordan
December 3rd, 2009
I don’t think I hate Comic Sans, but I never use and I have never had a reason to use it. I remember when I was in 5th grade, it was the first time I had noticed the font because EVERYONE in my class would use it to type up their homework, or used it in invitations to birthday parties. It even became the font to be used in Instant Messages. I think from that alone, is the reason why I don’t care for the typeface. Comic books is where it should stay.
Anne
December 3rd, 2009
Good article, though one has to wonder why so many people are drawn to it? And I’m talking about the non-designer crowd here, you know, your everyday people who use the font for everything, inappropriately.
In my opinion it simply shows that most people (people who are not in the design business) don’t really care about the technical aspects of the font (really, do they have to?). All they care about at the end of the day is how the font ‘looks’. There is something appealing about the font for them, regardless of the ‘kerning’ and the ‘weighting’.
Honestly, if I had to convince a client why Comic Sans would be inappropriate for their web site, etc. I wouldn’t be using ‘big’ words like ‘kerning’ and ‘weighting’, or even mention that it is simply a ‘taboo’ in good design, instead, I would first try to find out why they find it so appealing, then offer solid reasons, in simple clear language, why the font is not appropriate in this or that scenario related to their business.
As a designer I don’t love Comic Sans, but I can understand why other people who are not in our business, may find the font appealing.
George - Planet Anarky
December 3rd, 2009
I can’t abide Comic as a font. It’s just ugly! And saying “if you’re so creative, why are you joining the opinion of others?” is, frankly, retarded: just because it’s a commonly-held opinion doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
My favourite worst culprit for using Comic in the worst possible way is RyanAir, a large & well-known budget airline in the UK, who use it for their corporate logo. Eurgh.
See here for my review of their site: http://bit.ly/vkd0h
Eric
December 3rd, 2009
Don’t hate Comic Sans. Hate those who have misused and abused it. Just pick the right font for your design and message. When in doubt, keep it simple.
smheath
December 3rd, 2009
Great article! One problem, though. The “no table service in the upper tap room” example is actually Chalkboard, not Comic Sans. It is, however, just as inappropriate as the Comic Sans examples.
Greg
December 4th, 2009
I have to agree with Vincent Connare (the font designer), who was quoted in a Wall Street Times article:
If you love it, you don’t know much about typography. But, if you hate it, you really don’t know much about typography, either, and you should get another hobby.
Greg
December 4th, 2009
Wall Street *Journal*
Pieter
December 5th, 2009
I don’t think Comic Sans is that bad, but I hate it when used on the web or for official documents (I get letters from school in Comic Sans).
But yes, as mentioned before: Papyrus is worse. Changed 14 pages of text from Papyrus to a nice, readable font last week and spent 15 minutes on proper repositioning.
Sheffield
December 8th, 2009
I once did a nursery school website, and yep – you guessed it they asked for comic sans, this made me slightly vexed, although looking back it was nowhere near as inappropriate as some of these examples.
I feel sorry for the poor guy who invented it (Vincent Connare) – MS made it a monster – not him!
Lyndon
December 9th, 2009
As one of my professors from design school said to me years ago, “If you want a font to have a handmade look…hand make it.”
I cringe every time a designer uses a font like comic sans or papyrus or any of the other common threats. But we should recognize that they give people without the knowledge of accepted visual aesthetics a chance to feel like a designer.
Melody
January 4th, 2010
I don’t entirely get why people care so much that they want to ban it, just use it in a aesthetically pleasing form.
gina
January 5th, 2010
Very interesting post. I didn’t know that there are people who hate comic sans. I am not of them though.. so will that me an odd and corny person? LOL
Design Ideas
January 8th, 2010
Hehe, funny post. Love it
Devon
February 7th, 2010
“Every font has it’s place, including Comic Sans – just need to know when it’s appropriate.” – Jon Crim
Agreed. All this hate on this font is just a popularity contest. It’s the “cool” thing to do, or something similar. I don’t think it’s the most amazing font in the world, but I also just don’t see how it warrants so much hate.
Use on a grave marker certainly seems out of place, though.
jahrends
February 18th, 2010
All I can say is that this article made me want to use the font more… If it pisses off all the self important “Font” critics in the world! That is awesome!
Cheers!
Lokendra
February 25th, 2010
This is really nice i never seen before. but it’s funny
Thanks for nice posting
Ryan
March 10th, 2010
Ummm whats the big issue its a font ?:S if you dont like it leave it alone and go for whatever font YOU like, dont make a f****ng hate site about it gheez most childish thing ive heard for 2010 :| :|
jacob rendell
March 20th, 2010
Delia, tom, gina – yes i agree. jahrends – cheers! ryan, you’ve got a point. all of that bullsh*t about kerning and weight is, well, bullsh*t. a good designer can always make it work. people like comic sans cos it makes em feel cozy. im not saying that its easy to use, but i mean, it is easily recognizable and this makes it better than other choices in many situations. i think designers should think more about why something doesn’t work. just because it is used in the wrong context very often doesn’t mean it is overused. what is overused? can helvetica ever be overused? yes i realize the gravity, and yes i realize that i am comparing one of the most versatile families to a single typeface which was actually originally designed to be used for one thing only: speech bubbles within a computer program. which might have worked out great! just like Costanza’s hand lettering does in his comics.
i think Papyrus tries to do too much. part display, part grungy or something, it probably won’t work for anything, however it might make something misleading or fake, if thats what you wanted to do. and Times New Roman is just a default for whatever reason. it has some strange pointy serifs and beaks.
Anon
May 3rd, 2010
“Comic Sans: The Font Everyone Loves to Hate”
I thought that was Arial…
Puneet
June 18th, 2010
I am with the peple who hate this font. Completely agree.
Grace
June 21st, 2010
why are people that use comic sans always cocky, erragant, and act like it’s bush vs. obama? (gobama!!) really everyone knows that the indie, cool, graphically inclined people hate comic sans! and really james cameron?? ruin a movie (avatar) by putting PAPYRUS font in the subtitles?? STUPID. the movie sucked 2 though.. thats a lot to say about james cameron then..
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