fonts that piss me off

Posted by tobysturgill in design on January 26, 2009

If you’re addicted to type and letters as I am, then you know how easy it is to be affected by them. Some fonts make me happy, some sad, while others just piss me off. “How?” you ask. Well just look at them. I guess it’s really not their fault; they didn’t set out to be bad type and ligatures. It was the poor execution of the designers and hobos that thought they’d take a stab at desktop publishing that did them in.

Overused, missused and missunderstood these are just a few of the fonts that piss me off:

Apple Chancery- the poor man’s “fancy font.” It looks cheap.

Arial Narrow- the Helvetica knock off. Don’t waste time trying immitate the most perfect font (Helvetica, that is).

Comic Sans- the casual and “fun font.” This doesn’t even look good in comic strips.

Papyrus- sorely overused, it was the first of its kind that was organic and a little rough around the edges.

Zapfino- Completely misunderstood, this has been overused in just about every market. And it’s awkward to work with.

So what did them in? Well, mostly their availability through Microsoft and in turn the general public; and people who don’t understand that fonts have a time and a place.

Please, let these fonts rest in peace. You can do better!!

Tags: apple chancery, arial narrow, comic sans, design, desktop publishing, fonts, fonts that piss me off, microsoft, papyrus, zapfino