If there's anything that proves that you're hip and cool and just the smartest thing since Einstein, I'd guess that even more than trashing PHP, it's got to be trashing Comic Sans.
Why does Comic Sans get berated for "being used too often", when nobody says that Times or Arial, for example, are used too often?
Is it trashed for "being ugly"? It can't be "ugly" and "used too often" at the same time, any more than an ugly house can be photographed too often. Also, what does "ugly" mean? Illegible?
Personally, when I'm judging how legible a font is (how easy it is to read when it's small, for example), I have to say that Comic Sans does very well.
Perhaps it's a polarizing design, where some people just hate it, and it's better to bore everybody than to cause that level of heartburn to those of a more sensitive persuasion. Is that it? If so, who are these people, exactly? The general public, I think, really has more important things to worry about than somebodies font choice, so who are these delicate flowers that we're protecting?
I would just be interested in knowing where this animosity is coming from, and whether it's based on anything real, or is it like metro-sexual fashion preference, and it's only based on "what's in"? (Or in this case, "what's out")
Typography has a long history and tradition. Rules that might seem pedantic to the outsider. But those rules and traditions give anything touched by someone who know’s what she is doing that special polish. “So what?” you might ask, but sometimes it’s nice to see that someone cares about small things. Like correct quotation marks.
Truth is, there is nothing wrong with Comic Sans as a font. It is perfectly alright to use it for your children’s birthday invitations. Or if you are a peditrician for your door sign. There are nicer fonts for such jobs but if you don’t want to spend any money, using Comic Sans is perfectly alright.
But you cannot just use any font for any job. Well, you can, and Comic Sans may be every bit as legible as Verdana. But there is always a aesthetic side to the question, which font you should use. It’s not just about legibility. It’s about using the right tool for the right job. Comic Sans was never intended to be used in menus of classy restaurants. You just don’t do that. And in that respect, Comic Sans has just become overused. Comic Sans may be the most visible sign that it’s no longer professionals who are in charge of picking fonts. I (not being a professional myself) don’t think that is such a huge problem. But it would be really nice if the general public knew a little bit more about typography so that everything’s not lost.
If there's anything that proves that you're hip and cool and just the smartest thing since Einstein, I'd guess that even more than trashing PHP, it's got to be trashing Comic Sans.
Why does Comic Sans get berated for "being used too often", when nobody says that Times or Arial, for example, are used too often?
Is it trashed for "being ugly"? It can't be "ugly" and "used too often" at the same time, any more than an ugly house can be photographed too often. Also, what does "ugly" mean? Illegible?
Personally, when I'm judging how legible a font is (how easy it is to read when it's small, for example), I have to say that Comic Sans does very well.
Perhaps it's a polarizing design, where some people just hate it, and it's better to bore everybody than to cause that level of heartburn to those of a more sensitive persuasion. Is that it? If so, who are these people, exactly? The general public, I think, really has more important things to worry about than somebodies font choice, so who are these delicate flowers that we're protecting?
I would just be interested in knowing where this animosity is coming from, and whether it's based on anything real, or is it like metro-sexual fashion preference, and it's only based on "what's in"? (Or in this case, "what's out")