SmartDesign Group

In the past, Comic Sans has been referred to as the life of the party. It’s fun and groovy.  However, it’s quickly becoming evident that no self-respecting graphic designer will go near it.

The recent campaign to ban the typeface is sparking a whole lot of fun online. Videos, parodies, and rants personifying the font are flooding the Internet, successfully keeping master procrastinators engaged for hours.

Designers and typographers take their fonts pretty darn seriously. Like anything pertaining to art or design, trends come and go. And if you’re caught using an outdated font, expect a call from 1992 asking for its typeface back, or at the very least, looks of exasperation and disdain from those who claim to know better.

But this isn’t the first time a font has been at the centre of design controversy. You may remember the outrage that was caused late last year when IKEA made the bold move to switch from the timeless and beloved Futura to the more web-friendly Verdana in the 2010 Catalogue.

Or maybe you recall the Trajan Expose where Kirby Ferguson from goodiebag.tv called out the movie industry for using this typeface on every poster ever designed.

Going back to the early nineties, Microsoft’s Wingdings – yes Wingdings – had everyone up in arms. Apparently these universal symbols went above and beyond to predict the future. Dubbed the Wingding Prophecies, this collection of symbols was said to have predicted the World Trade Centre tragedy. Right.

The Helvetica Cop-Out has actually sparked an award-winning documentary. Of course, only a graphic designer would sit through two hours on the history of this overused typeface.  But regardless, the font is so universal in its appeal and personality that it can be used for virtually any purpose, any client, any campaign. So if you’re hard up for a font, or just plain lazy, Helvetica is for you.

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