Identity - Print - Web

Some co-workers and i have this little game that we play. We try to see if we can go an entire day without seeing “papyrus” in at least one form or another – logo, ad (usually in the clipper magazines), flier, whatever. I’ve been working at Design the Planet for a few months now, and since we’ve started playing this game, I haven’t skipped a day without seeing papyrus.

Your average Joe might be saying “so what?” And this is my problem.  If you’re a designer, well, you know exactly what I’m getting at. You’re probably as sick to death of overused fonts and crappy logos as I am.

I thought most people had this ability, the ability to look at something and say to themselves “man, that is fucking ugly.” Apparently, that ability is not as common as I once thought. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t sit here for one minute and say that I’m the best there ever was, far from it in fact. But I can tell you that when I see a design with papyrus I immediately know it sucks.

If you are a designer, you can stop reading now, because frankly, everything I’m about to say, you should already know. If, however, you think you’re a designer, you keep reading, and you have no idea what I’m talking about, chances are you’ll thank me when you’re done.

Folks, there are some fonts you shouldn’t ever use. When I say never, I mean open your favorite font management program, and delete the following fonts: Papyrus, Comic Sans, Curlz MT, and Zapfino. Delete them right now. I’ll explain to you why.

Let’s start off with what may be the lesser known (fortunately) “Curlz MT”, or the hundreds of other look alikes. You’ve definitely seen it before. “whimsical”, “fun”, “playful”, are adjectives I’ve heard used to describe this tragedy of a type face. When I look at Curlz MT, the words “vomit”, “gross”, or “trashy” come to mind. But like I said before, I must have an eye for this type of thing.

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen this on baby shower invitations, embroidered on babies clothes, or anything else that has to do with a baby. Listen, I know you’re excited about your new kid, but just because a font comes with Microsoft Word 97, doesn’t that mean you HAVE to use it.

I have to be honest, the first time I saw Zapfino, I thought to myself “hey that font’s not half bad.” So did millions of other people, I guess, too. There comes a point when a certain, easy to spot font shouldn’t be used anymore. Zapfino’s time has come and gone.

The enormous ascender and descender height could be misconstrued as “elegant” or “original” by some, but what doesn’t make it elegant or original is the fact that it has become the default font for just about every poorly designed clipper magazine and coffee news ad across the country.

I have a subscription to “Outdoor” magazine. Each issue has got small ads for different states advertising their various outdoor activities. Surprisingly, I didn’t see papyrus in any of them, but I did catch 5 different states using Zapfino. My conclusion: when the man starts using Zapfino, it’s time for you to stop using Zapfino.

Next up is “Comic Sans”. Let’s completely disregard the fact that typographers everywhere lament the day Comic Sans was forged (1994 by a Microsoft programmer no less) for it’s weighting and kerning issues and just plain ugliness. It’s amazing how popular this font has become.

It is my humble opinion that this is one of the most atrocious, tasteless, overused by secretaries the world over that want a “fun” and “goofy” feel, did i mention it’s atrocious, fonts I’ve ever come across. I’m sorry, lady, but this font doesn’t give your office flier the free spirited, young look you were going for. Actually, it makes it look like a 3rd grader designed it. In fact, this font is so ugly, Dave and Holly Combs, two creative geniuses, decided to create a website devoted to the complete and total banning of comic sans – bancomicsans.com.

Check it out if you have some time, and get some stickers to slap on the next ugly sign you see featuring comic sans.

In my research for this blog, I came across a girl who’s grandfather’s funeral announcement was entirely in comic sans. That might be the most awful and inappropriate thing I’ve ever read. Thankfully, this font is losing some of it’s popularity, only to be overtaken by the newest amateur design craze, Papyrus.

Comic Sans ties with our next ugly font for the “worst font on your hard drive” award.

This font has got to be the most popular font on the planet right now. Believe me when I tell you that I see this font on something every single day of my life.  I’m not the kind of guy to hate on things simply because they’re popular. But do me a favor, and look at papyrus for a minute. Give me one good reason why every word in your poetry book is in papyrus. Just because you’re “new age”, or a health spa, organic food store, yoga school, outdoorsy, eco-friendly, hippy type place, doesn’t mean you have free reign to put this font on EVERYTHING!

Furthermore, papyrus is made to look egyptian. Who made the association between new age and Ancient Egyptian? It doesn’t look “earthy”, it’s god awful.

So, the next time you’re thinking of using any of these fonts, just think to yourself “this design will be completely generic and terrible.”  If that doesn’t convince you, then friend, you’re too far gone for help.