What's Wrong With Comic Sans? The Art Of Symbolism Within Typefaces

It’s the font we are all familiar with, but comic sans has become blacklisted for some time now. It’s the font we see mainly on primary school displays and some low budget shop fronts, but we can now also find comic sans in social media memes.

For younger generations, especially Millenials and Gen Z, comic sans is a font in which elicits memories from their childhood. Yet why is the infamous font not seen as nostalgic, but more in horror and disgust?

There are plenty of things that are nostalgic, yet not desirable anymore which don’t elicit such an extreme reaction. And if they do make the masses disgusted, it’s usually a tangible object - clothes, food, decor etc.

Something so minute seems to bring rage to so many, without a clear rhyme or reason. Which got us thinking - what’s wrong with comic sans?

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Symbolism, Signs, and… Sans

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If the concept of symbolism is new to you, here's a quick run-down of what it means and how it is integrated into everyday life.

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Oxford Dictionary defines symbolism as “the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities”.

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These are used primarily amongst theorists but are well-known by those within industries such as entertainment, marketing/advertising, and art.

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Symbols are placed into texts to give meaning whether this is meant to be obvious to the reader or not.

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A great example of these religious symbols. The Christian cross is used by churches as a symbol of their religion. If you look further into the symbolism of the cross, it stands for more than just religion. It’s more than just the logo for Christianity. The cross refers back to the story of the crucifixion, how Jesus died for our sins. Pretty powerful, if you ask me.

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Another example would be colour symbolism, as colours connote meaning. It’s the reason valentine's day is littered with red and pink (passion and love), and eco-based businesses love green and brown (nature and warmth).

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Cadbury’s notorious purple packaging is a unique purple, trademarked by them. So not only do they have the luxurious connotations of the colour but also the specific shade is synonymous with them.

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How Does This Relates To Comic Sans?

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We all have the same associations with comic sans. The font symbolises something more, a unique understanding of the specific font.

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There are some great resources available that help us understand different font types and how they can connote meaning, similar to that of the cross or colours.

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Without getting too into all the different font types and what they mean, Comic Sans falls into the Sans Serif category. Sans Serif fonts are easy to read as they don’t have the curly bits on the end as Serif fonts do.

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Sans Serif fonts such as Comic Sans have been designed to be easy-to-read, straightforward, and simple. This is why they’re so popular with products aimed at young children.

However, the hatred towards Comic Sans isn’t directed to all sans serif fonts. Popular sans serif fonts include Arial, Calibri, and Roboto.

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So Why Is Comic Sans Unpopular?

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It may be that the font's low popularity is due to technology such as Microsoft Word. The BBC found that before this software, no one thought twice about fonts used, but having a choice of font created a surge within the everyday person.

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You can almost liken the use of this font to an early 2000’s trend. But with the noughties making a comeback, are we about to see more comic sans? We’ve already got low-rise jeans, crocs, and bedazzled tops.

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How Is It Currently Used?

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As I said previously, you won’t be seeing this font regularly anymore, but when you do it’ll be primarily within primary schools. This is down to its sans serif typeface which is easy for children to use.

You may also see it being used within social media posts, most of the time to mock the usage of the font by small businesses or within memes about the font.

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All in all, I don’t know what is wrong with comic sans, other than it being overused in the ’00s. It is simple to read and great when used for products aimed at children.

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What I do know is that Comic Sans embodies an era in which is typically viewed as tacky (sorry 2000/2010 trends). As trends come and go, it seems the font has turned into a joke amongst those who once used it religiously.

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Although that tacky early 2000s fashion has become popular once again - so maybe Gen Z has the power to bring back Comic Sans too!

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The lesson here is to know at least the basics of symbolism before entering the world of design. Otherwise, you’ll end up on a Facebook group with people laughing at your brand's use of font. I guess all publicity is good publicity though.