After discussing design details with a client last week, I was asked randomly, “So… What is it exactly that designers hate about Comic Sans? I happen to like it.” While the though of her liking it made it hard to swallow, the question posed a serious thought for me – What exactly do I dislike about Comic Sans? I mean, come on, it’s just a font, right?!
The question not only caught me off guard, but also made it clear to me that I had no exact answer; Well at least not with a well prepared, thought-out one anyways. After leaving the meeting, I went home and the question lingered with me some more. Poor little font… What is it that I dislike about you?
To ease my pain, I decided to hop on Twitter and ask other designers the same question. Here’s what they had to say.
Why do you dislike Comic Sans?
- @6bdesign – I don’t like because I think it’s ugly. Plus I’ve never found a need to use it for anything
- @jsondy – Comic Sans = amateurish (abused font in Powerpoint); over-used
- @keylimecreative – it’s ugly – [me: Why's it ugly?] … because unfortunately it’s easy to read and and shipped with every PC
- @sofaemployed – overuse and abuse [...] looks like Bart’s chalkboard handwriting on The Simpson’s opening
- @chrisong – Never found it suitable for anything other than comics or other humorous material
- @athenaemily – Font isn’t bad in its own right but since it’s over used by kids and students, it looks stupid when applied to professional design
- @mccambridge – I like Comic Sans in the right context… which usually is NOT business. I’d never use it for screen copy. Too hard to read
- @MCGSTUDIO – I totally agree with @athenaemily. It ends up looking cheap and unprofessional.
- @mtnmissy – It’s appropriate type for comics, but that’s about it. There’s an appropriate place for certain fonts.
- @mayhemstudios – usually I don’t find comic sans fit for any real projects, unless it was a parody or for a comic.
- @ommacreative – it’s because anyone can use it, so it looks so unprofessional. It’s a web font now for goodness sake!
- @LogoMotives – Comic Sans: too available, overused; most often used by individuals with no design skills.
- @sonaliagrawal – It’s outdated. I designed my own first website using that font, but no I find it cute and childish.
- @visualrhetor – Comic Sans = Budweiser. MS Paint. Kia. Nickelback. Walmart. Etc…
- @jlsellers – probably the same reason they don’t like Papyrus — overuse, too common.
- @sarahtelldown – so over-used
- @StephenTiano – Perhaps I think it’s because it’s so ubiquitous and a font that untrained people used incorrectly.
In response to why clients like Comic Sans
- @tomcarmony – I think there are a lot of other well crafted typefaces out there that fit the same “fun” motif. They like the informal feel…
- @Meroko – because there’s not a lot of options for non-designers in terms of fonts when you don’t know/want to pay
- @athenaemily – they like it because it looks “fun”, it’s a very stylish font in its own right so they might think they designed something by applying it.
- @ommacreative – it’s because anyone can use it, so it looks so unprofessional. It’s a web font now for goodness sake!
- @dragonlady23 – because to non-designers anything that doesn’t look like Arial or Times is cool/unique
- @stevethegreat – I think it’s because it was so heavily used in the early web days to convey that ‘human feel’
Hmmm… but isn’t Helvetica overused?
With “overused” being used over in many of the above responses, I was wondering if you feel Helvetica is overused, and if so, why do you still like it? — I know I’m asking for trouble with this question!
Related Comic Sans Resources and Links
Comic Sans makes me want to punch a baby :(
I stay away from it
Well its simply about human pshycology i guess people might differ with he opinions but for most of the people natural thoughts matter more than any thing.
Comic Sans is over used, but so are alot of fonts. I just don’t like the look of it and ones that look like it. I suppose they have their place, but it just does not fit into my style.
I hate it simply because it is so overused and easy. It gives anyone the illusion or an impression of taste and uniqueness but without any real effort. That they have truly done something noteworthy. They haven’t. Anyone with any small amount of sense of design are thinking just the opposite.
My mother uses this “cute” font and this is a woman that has the entire house in olive greens, oranges and covered in shag carpeting.
So whenever I see it used, I am without any doubt that these same users love olive green shag carpeting. And I bet they have one or two old tired art prints covering their walls.
Actually, I haven’t seen ComicSans for years on my PCs and Apple. A bit of tweaking and knowing what to do – I replaced it with Helvetica.
I’m not a designer, and I’ve never liked Helvetica. I do, on occasion, like Comic Sans, but that’s mostly due to its being a very easy font to read in a chat client, and it doesn’t distort when going up in size.
[...] http://www.thedesigncubicle.com/2008/12/why-exactly-designers-hate-comic-sans/ [...]
Oh, so “professionals” like to make hate clubs for fonts…
Yes, it’s not the most attractive font. Yes, it’s less formal. So what? I can understand the desire to hurl when it’s used poorly, but I see nothing wrong with the font itself.
I felt like I used it appropriately in a “fun” design, and now I’m considering replacing it just because other designers will cry about it being used at all. That’s pretty sad.
As far as over-use of a font, that’s just ridiculous, and it has nothing to do with this issue. I’m sure Arial is used FAR more often, and you certainly aren’t complaining about that.
You probably just mean it’s over-used *in bad ways*, which is quite different. It’s not really the font’s fault that it’s been used that way (bad signs and such). Any “playful” or “informal” font could have easily taken it’s place.
To say it’s simply Comic Sans that is the problem, just seems wrong. What about the person who mentioned Blambot? If any of those fonts were included in Microsoft’s products, they’d most likely have seen the same abuse.
Well, I guess if you really hate it, then *any* use is “over-use”. So there’s probably not much point arguing if you’re already set on hating it.
this is very informative on how people think lol.
its strange how people can hate a font so much that they want to ban it.
surly banning a font because you dont like it is similar to saying no to freedom of speech.
also as a graphic design student i dont mind it although i havent found a use for it yet in my work. but if there was one i would use it and it would probably make me laugh at how many people it would annoy because of its use lol.
Imagine what the Hutaree militia website would have looked like in Comic Sans.
I’m not a designer, but recently began working with designers and I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can so as to 1) not sound like an idiot in requirements discussions and 2) not make the designer’s (more) job difficult and frustrating.
So far I’m not convinced either way on Comic Sans, but I am very pleased that my search for “why do designers hate comic sans so much?” actually returned an informative result!
And of course my type-o did not help me achieve goal #1 of not sounding like an idiot. I meant I don’t want to make the designer’s job (more) difficult and frustrating.
“@visualrhetor – Comic Sans = Budweiser. MS Paint. Kia. Nickelback. Walmart. Etc…”
That absolutely sums it up for me. Generic, cheap, and mass-marketed.
Again, just because a font is “generic, cheap, and mass-marketed” doesn’t make it a bad font. Arial, Times New Roman, etc. are all used just as much, yet with far less hate.
At least back up your dislike for Comic Sans with logical reasons, such as that it has far less uses than those other two fonts. (Can’t be used well for large blocks of text, in a book, professional presentations, etc.)
Just saying it is over-used is like shooting your own argument in the foot, since most other “default” fonts suffer the same thing.
I was faced with this issue twice this month. The first instance was when another designer used Comic Sans in a poster design for a fun, literary-themed event. I asked that it be changed since I knew it to be a taboo in the book design world, and I wanted to avoid conflict. The second instance was today when I explained to a student my own personal rejection of the font. I explained that when it came out it was widespread and ‘different’, and it allowed people to feel like they were expressing a sense of fun. Now there are just so many creative type options available that it tends to be only elementary school teachers and small business owners with no ad budget who use it. Professionals have no real need to settle. As a comic font, I think it lacks style compared to other options also, and it is so clearly recognizable because it is everywhere — people are bound to have associations with the volumes of bad design that have used it even when looking at a good design.
Comic Sans is not overused. It is misused, and misused more than most other fonts. It is a font that conveys the feelings of “un-formal”, “fun”, “light-hearted”. Those feelings are esay to convert to the concepts of “juvenile” “unrefined” and “unprofessional”.
Once those feelings get entrenched in your mind, it’s hard to shake them. Say you saw a newspaper printed out in Comic Sans and you think to yourself “This looks childish”. Then you see a note up in a cafe printed in the same font saying “We close at 10″, you can associate the font with the feeling of inappropriateness. Multiply that by the hundreds of times you see the font, and people can begin to always see the font as wrong.
Say you are introduced to “Steve” at a friends wedding. Steve is wearing a faded polo, shorts, and flip flops. You think “Man, this guy is poorly dressed!” A week later, you see Steve at the Olive Garden, wearing the same outfit. While the setting is less formal, you’re still likely to look at his presentation and think “Steve is a sloppy dresser. He has no class.”
That’s my opinion.
about Helvetica… here’s some blasphemy for you:
Helvetica is becoming the next Arial due to it’s over usage.
@Nonnu: Apparently the apo’strophe is becoming the new Comic Sans due to its overuse.