Why do web designers get so worked up over fonts? A decision on whether to use one font or another for a logo may embroil an entire office, waging cubicle-to-cubicle warfare (imagine stapler-cannons, binder-clip mortars, and waste-paper-basket helmets here) that shoots down an entire day’s productivity. A non-designer will look on all this and wonder what on earth gets into people.
Let’s try to explain the rationale behind the most-dreaded fonts and why designers feel that way. On top of all these, the thing that makes a font the least popular is when it’s been overused.
Comic Sans – The thing is, this font was only intended as a joke/ novelty font. Think “party invitations.” Instead, a whole generation of novice web users latched onto this font for dear life and use it for everything, be it funeral notices, dear John letters, or results coming back from an AIDS test. There are tombstones chiseled in Comic-Sans out there.
- Vivaldi – If Comic Sans is in trouble for people who don’t take themselves seriously enough, Vivaldi is the font for people who take themselves too seriously. Vivaldi is appropriate for snooty French restaurants and symphony programs. Anything else just makes it scream “pretentious snob!”
- Curlz MT – Not only is Curlz ridiculously silly for any purpose except a circus train, it’s stupidly hard to read. If this article were displayed in Curlz MT, you’d have given up by now.
- Kristen ITC – Well, if you have to ask “What’s wrong with Kristen ITC?”, you’re probably beyond hope. It’s designed to look like it was hand-lettered by a preschooler. And that’s just how your intellect comes off when you use it. Remember, you’re inviting people to think that you’re four years old when you use this font. Don’t blame people for treating you like a four-year-old if you do.
- Bradley Hand ITC – Bradley hand is one of the hand-written fonts that basically lacks any imagination, while still making everything illegible and pretentious all at once. It’s like making a tray of fancy hors d’ouveres out of Ritz crackers, Spam, and Velveta.
- Papyrus – Papyrus is hated for being too dramatic. As such, it belongs on movie titles, movie posters, banners at Renaissance Faires, and nowhere else.
- Viner Hand ITC – If Papyrus is too dramatic, Viner Hand is the cursive font that’s too campy to be dramatic. Don’t use it unless you’re a 14-year-old Goth who shops at Hot Topic and wears a razor blade on a bracelet, because that’s what you’re telling the world.
