The Comic Sans Cafe
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I can’t resist letting this flotsam & jetsam float to the surface…
Everyone knows I pick on Comic Sans like a ruthless warlord, so let’s not revisit that and just cut right to some juicy quotes from the site:
“Comic Sans is the groovy script font which comes with the Windows 95 Plus! pack and is now available for the Apple Macintosh.”
Ha. Anytime the word groovy is used to describe a font, take a stick and beat it away. Oh, and thanks for porting it over the Mac too, bud. In 1995 I was 17, and I was hoping for 2 things: facial hair and a Mac version of Comic Sans. Much love, my friend.
“Although it might be seen as a novelty typeface, which is great for titles, it’s also extremely readable on-screen at small sizes, making it a useful text face.”
Novelty typeface. Oh, you think? As for the rest of that statement: No. No. And, um, what’s the word I’m thinking of? I know its here somewhere…eureka, there it is: No!
OK, here’s where it gets fun, kiddos. (I know, how can it get any better without a performance of “The Love Theme From Comic Sans: The Movie” from Tony Orlando and Dawn? Well it does, so read on.) A note from the “designer” of the font!
[pleading]Show it, pleeease? I can’t wait! oooh!![/pleading]
A note from Vincent Connare, Comic Sans’ designer.
“During 1994 I noticed that a large number of cartoon/comic style software titles were under development at Microsoft. As Microsoft Creative Writer had a need for FUN fonts, I had an idea to make a lettering script similar to the lettering used by the major comic books.
“There was a consistent style used in comics, which was quite unlike the style of lettering you see in newspaper cartoon strips. I also noticed that many people were inappropriately using drafting lettering in comic speech balloons.
“I started to make the font in October 1994. Initially it was picked up by the team working on Microsoft 3D Movie Maker for use in speech balloons. As 3D Movie Maker progressed, the programmers added sound so the that the characters didn’t use balloons. However, the regular weight was still used for help pop-ups and dialog boxes.
“Because the regular weight was cleanly hinted for the screen it was also included with the Windows 95 OEM version, the Windows 95 Plus pack, Publisher and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Hope you find the font fun.”
Single tear.
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