Why we love to hate Comic Sans

Earlier this month, the Twitter-sphere erupted with outraged users when the brand opted to revert back to using Helvetica Neue (I bet the Hipsters weren’t complaining). But it could have been much worse… Comic Sans, anyone?

Let’s just clear something up – Comic Sans is not a serious typeface. The name says so.

Medical services are serious. Fortune 500 companies are also quite serious, too. And yet, it’s not uncommon for these businesses to use Comic Sans.

If you’re thinking, ‘how could using such a fun font like Comic Sans be so bad?’ then A) you must read on and B) you must never voice these thoughts out loud…

In the font world, Comic Sans is basically a pariah, but there’s a science behind why we all hate Comic Sans.

Whether you realise it or not, fonts have personalities and have done so for centuries. Historically, Ancient Greeks and Romans thought of serifs as ‘symbols of the empire.’ Today, Hipsters idolise Helvetica for being the Original Hipster Font, imitated by Monotype Corporation to avoid paying royalties (which is how Arial was created). And in the Sodafizz office, using Times New Roman is a stackable offence. We prefer our fonts sans serif, thanks.

Comic Sans was created all because of a cartoon dog in the short-lived operating system, Microsoft Bob. Apparently, Times New Roman didn’t look quite right in a speech bubble, and they figured Comic Sans was more suitable. So if you’re looking for someone to blame for this font faux pas, send your hate mail to Vincent Connare.

He’s the reason Comic Sans has been terrorising our computer screens since 1994. But the cycle can be stopped. Unless you’re actually making a comic book or your audience is under the age of ten, for font’s sake, don’t use Comic Sans!

But back to why we hate Comic Sans… It’s scientific. Personalities and emotions go hand-in-hand, and the same goes for fonts. “Emotional responses are linked to the forms of the letters and words on the page or screen,” says Nicole Amare, Communications Scholar.

Which explains exactly why you found yourself on an emotional rollercoaster at the doctor’s office last week. Who prints a Bowel Cancer factsheet in Comic Sans? You want advice from Cambria, not the class clown.

Comic Sans won’t just stop at medical flyers. Recently, The Sydney Morning Herald used Comic Sans on their front page. Apparently, the style sheet transgression was to mock some deserving politicians, so I guess that’s okay.

Funnily enough, now everyone knows what Comic Sans looks like, everyone has been infuriated by it and now some have even developed a (secret) soft spot for it. It is even revered as a hero by a small minority in the font world. Comic Sans almost has come full circle. It’s probably the most successful font ever. And that’s nothing to laugh at.