Though the value of the typeface (or lack of it) is becoming an incredibly tired 'debate', the reputation of Comic Sans, as well as the history and reasoning behind its creation, is well documented in an interesting BBC article that appeared on the site yesterday.
Particularly interesting was the discussion of how typeface has become an ever more considered element of everyday work, whether it be graphical or otherwise. Before the dawn of computer technology for the masses, the general public would not give a second thought to the application or choices of different typefaces in the world around them, whereas now every man and his dog, not just the designer, has an opinion on them and is prepared to go to great lengths to let the world know about it via the medium of the internet.
Also noteworthy was how the trend to slag off the typeface has almost come full circle, and it's threatening to 'make a comeback' and gain some sort of value as a retro-chic/ironic typeface choice. Hopefully that day never comes, and it rests within the primary school signage/comic strip speech bubble applications where it belongs.
The full article can be found here.
I also checked this article out on the Guardian website- it is interesting to see how much people pay attention to fonts right now, like you I also hope Comic Sans doesn't make a 'retro' comeback!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that you blogged about this as I happened to make a post regarding the destroying of Comic Sans not too long ago. I guess each person is entitled to an opinion, but yes typography is a very talked about aspect of design these days and not just from a designers point of view. Comic Sans, unfortunately I am not a fan. Check this out though, quite clever I thought...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.comicsansdestroyer.com/
It does have its uses, just a very select few. I found it interesting that they mentioned it being useful for helping dyslexic children, i'd like to find out more about exactly why it's so helpful.
ReplyDeleteNice link though, kind of says it all about the 'designer' attitudes to the font. I think while designers (at least 99% of them) absolutely refuse to ever use it, there's no chance of it making a comeback. hopefully.