Proudly emblazoned across neon banners at the school fair and a familiar font in amateur presentations, Comic Sans MS is undoubtedly one of the most debated typefaces in existence.
Dubbed the 'world's most hated font', the typeface first came into existence back in 1994. A controversial creation by Microsoft Corporation, the sans-serif typeface quickly rose to fame and has continued to divide opinion ever since. And now, the man behind the font has spoken out.
In an interview with The Guardian, typographer Vincent Connare revealed the inspiration behind the typeface and addressed the global backlash his creation has faced over the years.
Vincent explained that Microsoft’s typography team dealt with applications such as Publisher and Creative Writer, which required a lot of 'strange and childlike' fonts. And one programme which approached Microsoft’s typography team was Microsoft Bob, a system designed to make computers more accessible to children.
Vincent told The Guardian: “I booted it up and out walked this cartoon dog, talking with a speech bubble in Times New Roman. Dogs don’t talk in Times New Roman! Conceptually, it made no sense.”
Working as Microsoft's typographic engineer, Vincent soon begun work on a new font, sourcing inspiration from graphic novels such as The Dark Knight Returns. But the artistic process soon caused controversy.
“My boss Robert Norton, whose mother Mary Norton wrote The Borrowers, said the 'p' and 'q' should mirror each other perfectly," Vincent explained. "I said: 'No, it’s supposed to be wrong!' There were a lot of problems like that at Microsoft, a lot of fights, though not physical ones.”
Vincent added: “I was breaking the typography rules.”
Soon, the typeface was available in Windows 95. And that’s when the backlash commenced. A group entitled, 'Ban Comic Sans', soon formed in the hope of teaching people the 'correct' use of typefaces.
Tom Stevens, who worked as a program manager at Microsoft back in 1994, told The Guardian: "The backlash, the level of hatred, was just amazing - and quite frankly funny. I couldn’t believe people could be so worked up over something as simple as a font."
But Vincent stands by his font to this day. "Type should do exactly what it’s intended to do. That’s why I’m proud of Comic Sans," he explained. "People use it inappropriately: if they don’t understand how type works, it won’t have any power or meaning to them. I once heard a guy at a Rothko show say: 'I could have done that.' He clearly doesn’t know anything about art. He’ll probably use Comic Sans without realising it’s wrong in certain circumstances."
And is Vincent a fond user of the font?
“I’ve only ever used Comic Sans once," he admitted. "I was having trouble changing my broadband to Sky so wrote them a letter in Comic Sans, saying how disappointed I was. I got a £10 refund. In those cases, I would recommend it. The basic theory is that typography should not shout - but Comic Sans shouts.”
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