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The History of Comic Sans

By Alex in Everything Else on Apr 20, 2009 at 1:10 am


Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that Comic Sans is an iconic (and very, very popular) font. Emily Steel of The Wall Stree Journal wrote a fascinating history of the creation of the font (by designer Vincent Connare) and the movement to ban it:

The proliferation of Comic Sans is something of a fluke. In 1994, Mr. Connare was working on a team at Microsoft creating software that consumers eventually would use on home PCs. His designer’s sensibilities were shocked, he says, when, one afternoon, he opened a test version of a program called Microsoft Bob for children and new computer users. The welcome screen showed a cartoon dog named Rover speaking in a text bubble. The message appeared in the ever-so-sedate Times New Roman font.

Mr. Connare says he pulled out the two comic books he had in his office, "The Dark Knight Returns" and "Watchmen," and got to work, inspired by the lettering and using his mouse to draw on a computer screen. Within a week, he had designed his legacy.

A product manager recognized the font’s appeal and included it as a standard typeface in the operating system for Microsoft Windows. As home computers became widespread, Comic Sans took on a goofy life of its own.

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COMMENT
  1. Kaz
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 2:05 am

    Oh, I really hate that font!

  2. Sock Poppette
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 3:39 am

    I had to choose a font for a website years ago and chose that. Anything but Arial.

    I think that is my fave font.

  3. Sock Poppette
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 3:44 am

    And just what does sans mean?

    @Kaz
    What font do you like?

  4. seefish3
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 3:57 am

    I believe it's short for SANS SERIF or "without serif" . It's difficult to describe what a serif is without an example, but consider them a sort of font furniture, an embellishment on certain fonts.

  5. N.M.
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 4:17 am

    Well... my eyes burn with rage whenever I see that font!

    And sometimes I see it in government forms. Imagine that.

    Sometime ago I've seen a video of the guy who designed it saying that if you love comic sans you don't know anything about graphic design BUT if you absolutely hate comic sans you don't know anything about graphic design!

    @Sock Poppette
    seefish3 is right... When a font as a "sans" in the name it means it doesn't have a serif. A serif is that finishing embellishment to a letter... Take a look at Neatorama's N for instance... See that "continuation" of the N's vertices? That's a serif right there.
    If you're confused google it... Wiki has a good article on that.

  6. Ajan
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 5:20 am

    @ N.M
    hey,plz post the link for that buddy!!

  7. Kaz
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 6:07 am

    @Sock Poppette

    If I have to choose between the rather poor Windows default set for a website, I'll say Georgia or Lucida.

    If we're talkin fonts in general then Gotham and Helvetica :)

  8. Gauldar
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 8:19 am

    Comic Sans is pretty good for the a font that is prepackaged with other cheap fonts on various common software. Unfortunatly it's so over used, and put in situations it shouldn't be in.

  9. emilymylime
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 9:49 am

    Could not help thinking about this:
    http://achewood.com/index.php?date=07052007

  10. Frau
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 10:13 am

    Comic Sans ro><ors.

    I love it. But I think I use it for what it is/was intended for, kids.
    They have an easier time learning to read.
    Arial Unicode and Tahoma also work.

  11. N.M.
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    @ Ajan
    Here you have it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serif

  12. Mac the Knife
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 5:21 pm

    ... And then came Songsmith to accompany it, like all mediocrity; Which is Microsoft make.

  13. Svengali
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 5:28 pm

    Everyone, watch Helvetica.

    Now!!

  14. ~April
    Apr 20th, 2009 at 9:13 pm

    I'm working on a PowerPoint presentation for school with that font and screw it... I ain't changin' it!

  15. DaveL
    Apr 21st, 2009 at 12:10 am

    I heart comic sans.

  16. Veracosa
    Apr 21st, 2009 at 8:40 am

    At least the guy had a good comic book collection...

  17. UnreaL
    Apr 25th, 2009 at 8:25 am

    See also Trajan, the font used for most of movie titles: http://www.manic.com.sg/blog/images/trajan.jpg

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