Comic Sans, one of my favourite fonts, has been in the news this week. The Guardian ran a full length feature by Patrick Kingsley.  I never realised it was so contentious. I have always liked the font and have used it for literacy materials, for work with dyslexic learners and, I have to admit,  for my own work on days when the words just don’t come easily. I don’t know why it works but if I hit a stumbling block I just turn the text into 14 point Comic Sans and it suddenly seems do-able.

So I was amazed to find that there is a Ban Comic Sans movement. Their main argument is that the font was originally designed to be used in talk bubbles containing informational help text but is now being used in hospitals, banks, museums and all sorts of places which require a font with a bit more gravitas. Holly Combs, one of the founders of the movement, said, “Using Comic Sans is like turning up to a black-tie event in a clown costume.” I guess that may be why I like it.