You think Comic Sans is bad? Bring back Microgramma Bold Extended!
23/10/2010

If, a few years ago, you had asked someone what a ‘font’ was, you would almost certainly have been told that it was a basin for the baptism of infants. Nowadays, everyone who owns a personal computer or a mobile phone knows that a font is another word for a typeface, and they generally have very decided ideas about which fonts they prefer for their messaging.

In fact it’s no exaggeration to say that half the world loves Comic Sans, a font first introduced by Microsoft in their Windows 95 operating system, and half the world hates it. This likeable – or loathsome – typeface, depending on your point of view, has pretty much taken over the world, challenging Helvetica’s supreme position as the most widely used font in public print and signage.

In case you’ve been living in a cave for the past ten years, Comic Sans is a script face that looks like nothing so much as a child’s handwriting. It was inspired by the speech bubbles in kid’s comics (hence the name), and in some quarters is considered so cutesy and babyish that it has generated an on-line hate campaign (see www.bancomsans.com).

How can a mere typeface rouse such heated emotions?  In my view the love/hate divide is mainly between print professionals and laymen, and echoes the debate between pedants and peasants over ‘proper’ English, as it is written, spoken or texted. Comic Sans is to Times Roman as a shorthand text message is to a grammatically perfect English sentence. It undermines and debases typography according to some, or enriches and enlivens it according to others.

Of course, you have to beware of either extreme.  As a copywriter I feel strongly about using words accurately and effectively, yet I commit what some purists would consider solecisms by starting a sentence with ‘And …’ or writing one word sentences. Literally. I think it gives writing a certain zest, which is appropriate to copywriting, if not perhaps to a formal dissertation.

I suppose the same could be said for Comic Sans. It has its place – on greetings cards or posters for church fetes – but would strike the wrong note as the heading for one’s ‘Last Will & Testament’ or on a sign announcing ‘Trespassers Will Be Shot!’, making both sound rather jolly communications.

Typography has its fads and fashions, and Comic Sans won’t be the first – or the last – to be used over-enthusiastically and inappropriately. Those of you who remember the Dark, Pre-Digital Age of Letraset will recall a time when Microgramma Bold Extended ruled the world. My boss vows he will resign if it ever comes back into fashion.

Anyone want to start a ‘Bring Back Microgramma’ campaign with me?