this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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Typography & fonts

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What can we talk about on this new Community about fonts, others than the most controversial font of all time ?

What do you think about Comic Sans MS ?

Do you use it ? Did you use it in the past ? Will you use it in the future ? Why ?

What do you like or dislike about this font ?

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Comic sans is so ubiquitous because it is easier to read for people with reading difficulties like dyslexia. So I let people do what works for them.

https://www.boia.org/blog/does-comic-sans-benefit-people-with-dyslexia

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Atkinson Hyperlegible and OpenDyslexic are both fonts that were actually designed for that. And Atkinson at least doesn't look ridiculous.

[–] cryptiod137 2 points 1 year ago

That article all but rejects your claim...

Please stop spreading this BS and the typographic crimes it enables

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

There is an actual opendyslexic font and it doesn't look much like comic sans. It has a very distinct heavy and light weight line to it, on a printed page the light areas barely show.

[–] problembasedperson 8 points 1 year ago

I think Comic Sans has been demonized by virtue of its misuse. It's a fun, no-frills font that has been slapped on in just about every document on the face of the Earth. It's easy to see how people could decide to use it even in serious situations, so nowadays I just chuckle if I see it misused. Also, it's great for dyslexic people so that's a point in its favor.

[–] defaultnamespace 5 points 1 year ago

I have never, and WILL never, respect anyone who uses Comic Sans. Do you want me to think you wrote something in crayon??

I recently saw a bio submitted for a board position that was done in Comic Sans, instant no vote from me. Do you not even know about Arial or Calibri? I mean, if you want to get crazy I'd even accept Times New Roman or Bookman if you think you can pull it off.

Come on people...

/humor

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

A friend of mine told me he attended a quite serious seminar about neuroscience once, with slides all in Comic Sans. And yet, to his (and my) surprise, the speaker really managed to pull it off!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I’m going to use it in the future.

On April 1st of 2024 our company is going to receive a notification that our knowledge base is going to switch to all Comic Sans.

I’m brimming with antici- pation.

[–] itsathursday 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I used it in the past but only because there was no real alternative at the time. I suppose as far as sans serif goes it’s the one that at a glance seems most like a handwritten font especially since fonts are usually alphabetically categorised, compared to courier new anything looks good. Once you use it and learn about typography you then see how bad it is.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Never thought about the alphabetization aspect. That's interesting. It probably does go into its popularity.

I wonder if that's why Arial, Calibri, and Cambria are so ubiquitous along with Courier. I guess Times New Roman is only commonly known because it's old.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Shouldn't we debating font vs typeface, rather than comic sans being viable. LOL

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Oh well. I still like it. It's easy to read.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I quite like it for readability when you want something less formal, but it’s so looked down upon that I don’t dare use it anymore.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It's like using ain't as short for am not. It's correct, but the word is so reviled that it can't be used unless you're going for a particular affectation.

Comic Sans is for silly stuff. Nothing wrong with using it for silly things.

[–] AshLassay 0 points 1 year ago

I use a monospaced Comic Sans font for my code. It’s the most comfortable font for my eyes I’ve used for programming.