The first was a video work of majestic nature projected on an entire wall, and I was totally distracted by the use of comic sans for the captions at the bottom. This was a painter crossing over into other areas, which is great, but that font made no sense… This got me to thinking – what is a “bad” font, and why is comic sans one of them? People love to hate comic sans<\/a>, not just because of its ubiquity and subsequent misuse, but because it’s poorly crafted<\/a>. Its weights are uneven, and its kerning is so poorly done that legibility suffers. Reading an entire page of comic sans is like trying to walk briskly through the ball pit at Ikea. There are options, of course – if you want a rounded font there’s lots of well-crafted ones like\u00a0Futura round SG<\/a>,\u00a0or if you want to stick to Microsoft fonts, Arial Rounded MT<\/a>. The important question to ask yourself, however, is whether comic sans is even appropriate.<\/p>\n That typography and font choices communicate meaning is one of the core principles of graphic design, as Carolyn Knight and Jessica Glaser point out in a Smashing Magazine article discussing \u00a0\u201cthe interaction\u00a0between the look of type and what type actually says\u201d :<\/p>\n The role \u2014 and, in fact, the obligation \u2014 of the designer in establishing a tone that adds meaning to the verbal message is a matter of regular debate. Many graphic designers and academics argue that the designer has a responsibility to add \u201cflavor\u201d to their work, not only helping to convey and enhance meaning, but also making the message enjoyable and encouraging to \u201cread\u201d and also memorable. In this example, we have an Orange County, Florida squad car on the left, and a Los Angeles squad car on the right.<\/p>\n The implied insincerity communicated in both examples by a shocking\u00a0misuse of quotation marks<\/a>\u00a0aside, the LA example is clearly superior. The impression it gives is sophisticated yet casual; there’s a reassuring early 60’s-esque quality to the font that makes you think of the police as a homey kind of institution, shades of the Andy Griffith Show. The Orlando example, on the other hand, could be written on the awning of a daycare and not look out of place. It’s not just inappropriate – it’s disrespectful of the importance of city police, and of their relationship with the community at large. Why, the designer that came up with this must be some kind of TRAITOR.<\/p>\n Well, maybe that’s going too far.<\/p>\n
\n– Chris Healey<\/a> (the ALP Blog)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n–\u00a0When Typography Speaks Louder Than Words<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"Orlando](\"http:\/\/greynotgrey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/police_cars.gif\" "\\"Orlando")
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![\"Stop](\"http:\/\/greynotgrey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/stop_signs_reimagined.gif\" "\\"Stop")
There’s also the question of legibility – imagine if a city decided to use comic sans for its traffic signage instead of\u00a0