Ban Comic Sans

I'd like to devote just a moment to the horridness of the font Comic Sans. I have a personal abhorrence to this particular typeface. In hell I imagine the only correspondence possible would be through typing in very large comic sans writing. I fully support sites like bancomicsans.com and this interview about why it's not safe for unregulated use.

It's actually not so much the font itself however, as how it's used. professionals everywhere seem to love this typeface, and they comment it's "casual" and "fun". Actually, it was designed by Microsoft for use in comic book-like bubbles that held informational text. Comic Sans has NO place in the professional world. None. It has kid-like characters and a very unrefined appearance. Yet everyone from program managers, to inventory specialists to accountants find it appropriate for the office.

I particularly cringe at those who use it as thier email signature. Have you ever seen a CFO with a Comic Sans signature? It screams "Hi, I'm supposedly an intelligent, upper level executive in charge of major financial decisions. But I want to appear 'friendly' and 'approachable' to you, so I'll write like I'm five." Seriously people. It's business. If you really need something that is more fun and casual, try Futura, or Gill Sans, or another basic, pre-installed, sans serif font with bulbous characters. I promise they look better than your current, "cute" option.

And if you must use Comic Sans, I beg you, please keep it to the only appropriate place: your toddler's circus themed birthday party invitation.

Branding, it's not just for cows.

There are days at work when I feel sort of bad telling people that they can't create their own organizational flyers, invitations, postcards, or whatever other creative masterpiece they've dreamed up. I don't like having to be so controlling - it feels like I'm a dictator. But then I realize how much they need to be told no, because otherwise I'd have lime green and magenta logos and 85 different abbreviations of the agency name, (and let's face it, the 26 acronyms we currently have are about 25 too many).

Branding stanards exist for a reason, especially in the corporate world. I will never understand a promotional piece with lime green clip art, the font comic sans (which may be the worst font ever created, but don't get me started on that), and an agency slapped across the piece as an afterthought. Worse still, some people neglect to add the logo altogether and actually distribute it publicly. Not only does it reek of disorder and bad taste, but unless your corporate brand involves lime green and Comic sans, it has NOTHING to do with the organization you are trying to represent. I just don't understand why this is such a tough concept.

The idea of branding itself can be a little bit complicated to grasp, especially if you don't take up residency in the world of marketing and communications. But rather than get into a philosophical discussion about what a brand is, or is not, let's focus on the visual aspect. If your corporate colors are navy and grey, and your corporate font is Bodoni; Lime green script used with clip art probably isn't going to conjour the image of your company. And if it does, it certainly won't give people the right impression of who that company is.

Yes there's the exception to the rule, but when every case is the exception to the rule, it's hard to be consistent. And sometimes consistency doesn't make people happy - a big curse for branding. Mark Sczepanik writes a great blog entry on it here. The point is, originality isn't always a good thing, especially when someone has no idea who you represent. I'm not asking you to color within the lines - maybe just stay on the page. And if you can't reign in your creativity with crayons that much, maybe leave it to the people who know how.