More Comic Sans

[Jonathon]

I think people realize it at a subconscious level if nothing else. Show someone a crappy design job, and they might not see anything wrong with it. Then show someone a well-designed piece, and the difference is usually clear. And even discounting the aesthetic quality of the font and the layout, there are a lot of issues like readability, clarity, each of finding information, and visual impact. There's a much bigger difference between good design and bad design than simply the font choice.

[Annie Subjunctive]

Right. People won't notice the specifics, but they can tell the difference between professional and unprofessional. What makes the professionals professionals is knowing how to achieve that difference.

[Porter]

Perhaps.  I think I'm reacting to this the same way I react to the idea of ki or chi in martial arts -- there might be something to ki, but most of what people actually say about it sounds like hogwash.

[Jonathon]

*blank stare*

[Annie Subjunctive]

Heh.

[Leto II]

I'm largely with Porter here.

And I think signs and such done in Comic Sans do look amateurish, but I think that typically either they are intended to look this way, or they simply are done by amateurs.

As far as readability, Comis Sans is one of the more readable typefaces out there. I think the vast majority of typefaces that people get all snobby about are rather unreadable. I think all of your basic needs are met by a nice serif font like Times Roman and a nice sans serif like Helvetica/Ariel. Anything else ought to be reserved for titles or not used at all, pretty much, but I consider Comic Sans to be an exception, in that, unlike most of those fifty thousand fonts that come with most software these days, it actually is pretty readable. (Another exception is Courier, in case for some reason you want something to look like a typewriter typeface--though in general I find Courier hideous.) I certainly would not want to read a paper written in Comic Sans, but for a little paper sign or personal web page or AIM font, I see nothing at all wrong with it.

Most people who complain about Comic Sans are not referring to "professional" products or thinking of the poor graphic designers driven out of business. Mostly they just make fun of people's personal web pages (or those of small businesses) or their AIM fonts, and I can't distinguish between that and being a snob.

-Icarus

[Ela]

I have to say I agree with what Porter and Icky said here.

I brought this subject up with my sister, who happens to be a graphic artist by profession and teaches graphic design at the college level. She went into an explanation of how the kerning pairs in Comic Sans don't match, or aren't compatible, or something like that, and my eyes just glazed over.

I am fairly certain that I have never judged a piece of graphic art to be amateurish merely due to the use of Comic Sans, and I think that the average, less educated viewer would think about it even less.

Just my two cents worth.

[Porter]

Last night we had a family gathering, and my mother had made up some questionairres for the sets of fiances to fill out about each other.

It was done in comic sans.

I thought of y'all.

[sarcasticmuppet]

I was in the Pallete Zone and there was a big sign saying something about the new return policy.

I thought of y'all.

[Jonathon]

My issue isn't with the kerning or anything like that. It's that it's the default font for everyone who wants to make their writing look fun and cute. It's also not the most readable font, and I think it distracts from the content. It's (bad) style over substance.

[Porter]

You're talking like an engineer now.

[Icarus]

Actually, I find it extremely readable.

[Ela]

I have to agree. I have never had any problems with its readability, either.