Do you love Comic Sans or do you love to hate it? Whatever your feelings are, it can’t be denied that Comic Sans is one of the most popular fonts ever. But should it be used as much as it is? Here’s what we think:

A Quick Overview Of The History Of Comic Sans

Comic Sans MS is the brainchild of Vincent Connare. It has been a standard font for all Windows operating systems released since ‘95. The font has an interesting history, and it was originally designed for the speech bubbles that’d come up when a user requested help from the Microsoft Office helper, Bob; remember that friendly animated dog that helped you find your way around Windows 95?

Soon, Comic Sans got extremely popular, especially with young audiences who enjoyed its appearance. Eventually Comic Sans would become a de-facto font, used by students writing essays, hospital workers and police officers filling out reports, and even big-time CEOs. Nowadays you can find this font anywhere, even in places where it’ doesn’t really belong.

Why You Shouldn’t Use Comic Sans For Printing

If you’re currently responsible for designing outdoor signs for your business, pay attention to these reasons why you should avoid Comic Sans when printing:

  • Poor Visual Weight: The typeface features unmodulated strokes, and some strokes are thicker than others. As a result, this font isn’t all that legible and it has an unbalanced visual weight.
  • Poor Kerning: Kerning is a technical term that refers to the appropriate spacing between letters. Comic Sans has uneven kerning, as some letters are spaced far apart while others are close together. This impacts readability and makes Comic Sans not suitable for printed materials.

Aside from the technical issues, the main reason why designers hate Comic Sans is because it’s wildly misused and overused. It's everywhere, so it’s become boring, childish, and unprofessional.

Where To Use Comic Sans?

There are a few scenarios when Comic Sans is an appropriate choice:

  • If your target audience is children. If you’re printing materials for kids, Comic Sans is a suitable choice.
  • If you’re designing a comic. This is a good place to use Comic Sans, since this font was created for this very purpose.

That said, there are better alternative fonts for both these scenarios.

What Can Be Used Instead?

Thankfully, there are dozens of alternatives to Comic Sans, some of which are much better. Here are some good alternatives:

  • When you need something friendly:

There's no denying that Comic Sans is cute and friendly. But if you’re looking for a fun and friendly font, one that’s aimed at younger audiences, choose SF Cartoonist Hand or Comic Boys.

  • When you want a serif fun font:

Serif fonts can be fun too. If you’re looking for a font that combines the casual nature of Comic Sans with the slight formalness of a serif font, consider a font style like EB Garamond or Hacky.

  • When printing something that needs to be taken seriously:

Never use Comic Sans in this case. If you’re designing professional posters, outdoor banner stands, real estate sign posts, or any other marketing material, make sure you stay away from Comic Sans. If you’re looking for an easy-to-read Comic Sans style font, consider Laconic. It has a fun typeface like Comic Sans but the letters are more uniform and there’s better kerning.

Wrapping Up

We don’t want to shame you for loving Comic Sans. It's a great typeface, but it’s not suited for professional situations. So try out better fonts and save the Comic Sans for when you’re writing private journal entries or a comic book for children.