A few weeks ago we read
Lupton’s Thinking with Type. Which is a
fascinating book about how to use different fonts. We used the theories that were discussed in
Lupton to help us design our own
typeface. Only a few days after
I had finished the rough draft of my font I came a crossed an article on Yahoo
that gave me a little more insight into typography. (I’m am not sure if “rough draft” is the
right phrase to use in this situation but I think that my meaning is clear.)
The article was titled “Typeface
Inspired by Comic Books Has Become a Font of Ill Will” by Emily Steel. It discusses the controversy over the
continued use of Vincent Connare’s font Comic Sans. The font originated fifteen years ago as a
software project at Microsoft. Since
then it has spread to “grade-school fliers, holiday newsletters, Disney ads, Beanie Baby tags,
business emails, street signs, Bibles, porn sites, gravestones and hospital
posters about bowel cancer”.
Unbeknownst
to me the font has caused quite a commotion with graphic designers and other
aesthetes. I saw the font as simply cute
and childlike fine for a five year olds’ birthday invitations but inappropriate
for much else. However, it has caused so much controversy that many want it banned.
There are numerous websites devoted to just that. At such sites, you can even purchase anti
Comic Sans apparel, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, etc.
The Ban Comic
Sans movement’s manifesto explains that they “believe in the sanctity of
typography and that the traditions and established standards of this craft
should be upheld throughout all time... Type is a voice; it’s very qualities
and characteristics communicate to readers a meaning beyond mere syntax.
In fact
after reading their position I was a little upset that I had attempted to
create my own font because I might be considered one of the “uneducated [who
now] have opportunities to desecrate this art form; therefore, destroying the
historical integrity of typography”. I
am sure that they were not referring to students completing assignments however,
their language was a little intimidating.
However the site make several good
points many of which were discussed in Lupton.
One was that like the “tone of a spoken voice, the characteristics of a
typeface convey meaning. The design of
the typeface is, in itself, its voice. Often this voice speaks louder than the
text itself”. Therefore using Comic Sans for much
of anything outside of a comic book is “analogous to showing up for a black tie
event in a clown costume”.
When asked about the attention given
to the font Mr. Connare said. "If
you love it, you don't know much about typography….if you hate it, you really
don't know much about typography, either, and you should get another
hobby."
