Comment by dspillett

Comment by dspillett a day ago

9 replies

My two problems with it were/are:

1. Gratuitous overuse often in inappropriate places (bad news from work, invitation to a funeral, etc.)

2. The fact that it was optimised in its hinting for low resolution screens common around the time of its creation (and its initial target, via MS Bob) making it not optimal for higher resolutions (in print, or on more modern higher resolution screens with or without sub-pixel rendering). If you are going to use that sort of font, I think there are better choices than Comic Sans itself (unless CS has had updates over the years, which, come to think of it, is not unlikely).

If you really want to wind up people who care too much about what fonts you use, try combining the two most overuses and disliked with Comic Papyrus: https://creativemarket.com/blog/designer-combines-papyrus-an... (since renamed Comic Parchment due to litigious arseholery).

magnetowasright a day ago

Funeral invitation in comic sans (or your combo punch of comic sans + papyrus) is absolutely my vibe, brb gotta update my will to stipulate this

Jokes aside, I see a lot of either font on local small businesses' branding and it definitely makes an impression, for better or (usually) worse. I'm probably missing out on some great local businesses because I've written them off without really thinking about it until now because of using either font.

adastra22 a day ago

> inappropriate places

You're begging the question. Why is it inappropriate?

  • mannykannot a day ago

    Begging the question? It appears to be an opinion, and it is definitely not an argument.

    • adastra22 a day ago

      Start of thread:

      > I actually really like Comic Sans and that style of font. Don't understand the haters!

      Then you replied saying among other things that its use is inappropriate in many contexts.

      But that’s circular. why is it deemed inappropriate?

      • xpe a day ago

        You can't spell funeral without fun.

      • dspillett a day ago

        You seem to be talking to three posters as if we are all the same person…

        • [removed] a day ago
          [deleted]
      • mannykannot a day ago

        With or without the apparent misidentification of authorship, it is not clear to me what could be seen as circular here.

  • dspillett a day ago

    Well, I gave two examples of many possibilities. To go into a bit more detail on them:

    Bad news from work in a jovial friendly font like comic sans would be inappropriate from the view of entirely failing to show empathy and read the room. A typeface like that on a 0% pay rise, redundancy notice, or news that the team had lost a significant contract would be an extra slap in the face. I have seen this sort of thing. The level of incredulity that could be read into your reply begs a question or two back: do you really think it might be appropriate?, and if so: why?

    The funeral notice is more of a grey area as it depends on the person being funed. I don't think many would want comic sans used in that context, I know I wouldn't, but of course some might, and may even request it. Heck, if they requested bright rainbow striped Ransom Note Extra Bold with added porn windings, darn well use that. It is their funeral, after all.