This article reviews everything you need to know about Comic Sans - why is it so maligned, what the creator of Comic Sans thinks about his font, why was Comic Sans created, the Ban Comic Sans Movement and much, much more.
Why Comic Sans was Created
Comic Sans was created by Vincent Connare in 1994/1995 for Microsoft.
Microsoft was finishing a program called "Microsoft Bob".
In Microsoft Bob was a dog who spoke in text bubbles. The font used in the text bubbles was Times New Roman. Many people started complaining that the font looked too "plain" or did not send a very "kiddy" vibe.
So Microsoft hired Connare to design a font to replace Times New Roman. And, as the replacement font, Vincent Connare created Comic Sans MS.
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.
Why Comic Sans is/was Hated (So Much)
Comic Sans is adequate in situations related to comic books or cartoons, but that is about it. It has no place in business or professional usage. Two of the only other times you should use it is if one, you are making someone something that requires a font and they request the lettering to be in Comic Sans; or two, you are making something for a dyslexic person (Comic Sans is easier for them to read then some other fonts.) It does not look good in body text - it looks best in a title or subtitle. But, Comic Sans has cropped up all over the place ANYWAY.
The Ban Comic Sans Movement
The Ban Comic Sans Movement was created in 1999 by Holly & Dave Crumbs, graphic designers from Indianapolis. When an employer insisted they use Comic Sans in a children's museum exhibit, the two of them realized how bad Comic Sans really was/is and decided to start a movement to get people to dislike and ban the font [starting with a petition trying to ban CSMS from Gmail.)
Alternate Comic [Sans] Fonts
Many people don't know what other fonts they can use instead of Comic Sans - either they haven't found any good ones or they don't know how to install them. Or, they are looking for a font that doesn't associate so much... negativity when used. The link below solves all those problems (except for the installing one!)! There are a bunch of good "Comic Sans" alternatives. I think most of them are free, so if you're looking for an 'alternative, please go check them out!
*note: if you want any of the fonts for free, email us at ivyandlilyfonts@outlook.com and we can email them to you for free.
Ban Comic Sans Font Alternatives
http://bancomicsans.com/main/?page_id=98
Some more alternatives (individual)
Lexia Readable (http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/k-type/lexia-readable/)
P22 Kaz Set (http://www.fonts.com/font/p22/p22-kaz/set)
Doodle Medium (http://www.linotype.com/494148/jmdoodlemedium-font.html)
Vincent Connare Doesn't Have a Sense of Humor
When Vincent Connare was asked about the Ban Comic Sans Movement in an interview, it was clearly shown he doesn't not have a sense of humor.
To quote him: "People don't know why it was made. If they did they would realize that it was what design is about - designing for a product with an appropriate design. Not Times New Roman. They also need to pull their heads from their arses... it pisses me off."
He's not embarrassed. He thinks Comic Sans MS a perfect font for kids - and he doesn't appreciate the complaints, [constructive & non-constructive] criticism coming from Comic Sans-haters, font snobs, designers & even people who just think it's overused.
It's understandable that he doesn't like his font being criticized, but still, he is quite arrogant.
He is right, on some levels. Some people don't know why it was made. But it is wrong to assume "people" - which is a pretty large word - don't know why Comic Sans was made.
He is also right that Times New Roman would not have fit with the program Mr. Connare was designing a font for. But there is a huge list of fonts that would have fit just as well or even better than Comic Sans.
He also said, "If you love it [Comic Sans], you don't know much about typography. But if you hate it, you don't really know much about typography either and you should get another hobby."
There are so many ways to look at that statement. I'll break it down into three parts.
"If you love it, you don't know much about typography." Now that is absolutely true. This part of his quote shows he understands something about typography.
"But if you hate it, you don't really know much about typography either" That part of the quote is a completely different story! Basically he is saying that any designer who dislikes/hates his font doesn't know "much about typography". So how is it possible that many of them probably have jobs that specialize in typography? There is a Ban Comic Sans movement out there, for crying out loud. I think that Holly and Dave Combs know a thing or two about typography. I think Mr. Connare is wrong to assume that.
Let's compare something else and make the same comparison.
Okay, so I create a flavour of ice cream called Bacon Ice Cream that is only meant for one ice cream shop as a test flavour or something. But when many people try it and it goes "viral" (is there a better term?), should I expect some people might not like it? Or might even hate it?
A lot of people are vegetarian. Let's say they criticized it. Should I say "If you hate my ice cream, you don't know much about ice cream" or "If you love my ice cream, you don't know much about ice cream"?
The final part of his quote was "you should get another hobby." He is again jumping to conclusions. Who said that everyone who doesn't like his font has typography as a hobby? What if someone just dislikes Comic Sans???
And also, it's not up to him to decide other peoples' hobbies. It's your own decision whether or not typography is one of your "hobbies" (and Mr. Connare can't change that); just like it's your own decision whether or not you like Comic Sans.
So Why Hate on Comic Sans?
First of all, I'm sure you can tell that the creator of Comic Sans is not exactly the nicest (or least-arrogant) person (well, at least from what he says about his font). Secondly, Comic Sans just doesn't look good. I think it looks horribly ugly, in fact. Thirdly, it's overused, and using it would be more than a "cliché".
So what's your opinion? Leave a comment/question below or email us at ivyandlilyfonts@outlook.com.
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