It's a universal truth that Comic Sans is the big joke of the Internet. The only place Comic Sans belongs is in elementary school, where it's often — understandably — used for its upbeat and childlike style.
But apparently, the person who designed the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald feels otherwise. The 183-year-old Australian newspaper used Comic Sans on the cover of its Sept. 3 issue. Yes, people. Comic Sans was actually used in a real-live professional newspaper.
The typeface in question accompanied a story about comments from witnesses at an Independent Commission Against Corruption hearing. To make matters worse, the comments written in Comic Sans were placed in speech bubbles, resembling a very poorly drawn comic book.
And of course, Twitter had a field day when this news hit the Interwebs. If there's one thing Twitter is good for, it's for throwing lots and lots of shade.
When they record the downfall of Fairfax, the comic sans front page will be seen as the beginning of the end pic.twitter.com/qEbOlfAeDn
— Rob Stott (@Rob_Stott) September 2, 2014
A typography scandal!! No to Comic Sans https://t.co/xRkdtpNBHN — Aisha (Nakeyisha) H (@Blurosepixels) September 3, 2014
There's a time and a place for Comic Sans, but this isn't it https://t.co/x0QH4F9rgq pic.twitter.com/qyEpCX2lOl
— HUH. (@huhmagazine) September 3, 2014
Never, ever use Comic Sans, even to make fun of people who regularly use Comic Sans. #zerotolerance — dominic knight (@domknight) September 2, 2014
Is it any coincidence that the Sydney Morning Herald's initials are SMH? I think not.
BuzzFeed got in touch with the editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, Darren Goodsir, who actually defended the use of the font. In an email to BuzzFeed, which was of course was written in Comic Sans, Goodsir wrote:
"Dear Mark
As you can see, I love the font — but am more than aware that my affections are not universally shared.
As for the newspaper, the decision was made to match the surreal nature of the shocking revelations at the ICAC — and it was felt the font would best depict the comic-book feel we were trying to give to the front; as if to make a mockery of the appalling displays in the witness box from a former politician and a current parliamentarian. I am very pleased with the result, but that's about it.
best
Darren"
Matt Martel, the executive editor of photography and presentation at Fairfax Media, the parent company of The Sydney Morning Herald, also defended the use of Comic Sans on the paper's front page. "Chris Hartcher's and Eric Roozendaal's comments to the ICAC were treated typographically with the respect they deserve. And they deserved Comic Sans," he wrote in an editorial published the night the paper hit newsstands. "Comic Sans is here. It is not going away. It has its place. Let's hope that we don't feel the need to shame anyone else with a font for a while."
Knowing how the Internet works, that's probably not going to happen. .
Whether you're a Comic Sans fan or shudder at the sight of the typeface, The Guardian has taken it upon itself to give us a glimpse at what the homepages of some of the world's best-known media organizations would look like if they used Comic Sans. With the help of the Google Chrome plug-in Comic Sans EVERYWHERE, which turns all of the type on a page to Comic Sans, we see a more fun-loving side to the news on the homepages of The Guardian, The New York Times and Google. Ah, what you never knew you wanted.
This year actually marks the 20th anniversary of the creation of Comic Sans, in case you were wondering. Vincent Connare designed the font for the program Microsoft Bob for people learning how to use the computer. There was a cartoon dog in the program that Connare thought would go better with a casual font like Comic Sans than the default Times New Roman. Then Comic Sans ended up on Windows '95 and soon it was seen everywhere. And it will probably not go away anytime soon, as unfortunate as that sounds.
