Klowns in my Koffee

While I was at Porkus I used the font Comic Sans for most of my reports and forms because I liked the clean lines, appreciated that the font set was loaded on all our office PCs as part of the basic installation and wouldn't be transformed into the dreaded boxes, and because the name reinforced my developing belief that I just might be working for klowns. On the latter, I would have used a font called "Pearls Before Swine" to underscore the same point if it had been available.

I also thought comic sans looked cool and creative in that "I don't need to impress you with my archetypal coolness" sort of way. Belatedly, I found out that I am not cool, never was, and -- in the opinion of my children -- am not likely to be cool anytime in the future.

Another jolt is that there is a group of people who have deemed comic sans not only uncool but a basic insult to the fabric of the universe. The movement to ban comic sans started in 1999 and is said to be picking up adherents.

What's not to like about comic sans? The font was based on the hand lettering used by artists of classic comic books, so there's genuine geek cred. Unfortunately, it was developed for Microsoft Bob, widely regarded as the New Coke of user interfaces. The font's use spread and the detractors cite its jarring misuse in dire warning labels written in the whimsical style. It brings to mind the old Steve Martin routine where he demonstrates that no one can be dismal while playing the banjo.

Here's the Wikipedia's take on the font that many love to hate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Sans

And the site of the Ban Comic Sans group, complete with petition:
http://bancomicsans.com/main/

They must have infiltrated widely because I can't change this post to comic sans without HTML heavy lifting. Google "Comic sans must die" for more examples and chatter on this nearly meaningless but somehow both enduring and endearing kerfuffle.