Lunchtime Challenge #01

posted by Nicola - 11:34 05/10/10

Hello, I thought it'd be nice to share with you what the production team have been getting up to lately on our lunch breaks. Devised originally to stop the spread of world of warcraft, behold the 30 minute lunchtime challenge!

Each week (or fortnight depending upon how busy we all are) a random challenge is put forward. Those brave enough to attempt the challenge and win, achieve the highest accolade d2 can award - Lunchtime Challenge Champ and get to feel special for all of 5 minutes or so.

The first, seemingly impossible challenge was:

Make Comic Sans look good.

Now, speaking for the majority, I think you'll all agree that Comic Sans is so very wrong and should not be used under any circumstances! Ok, ok, that is my opinion. I shall try and back it up with some real facts.

Anyone who uses a computer will be aware of the font Comic Sans, it is a default font, it is everywhere.

FACT #01 Every time a designer is asked to use Comic Sans, they die a little inside (ok this isn’t a real fact but it could be!)

Mostly this request comes from clients who are teachers. Historically one of the reasons teachers used comic sans font is because it had the correct 'a' and closely mirrored their hand writing and so was easier for kids to read. Fair enough, however, there are many more alternative options available which use the same style of 'a':

FACT #02 Non designers generally don't have many font options to choose from, they think they're making their document look more 'designed' and showing a bit of their creative personality by using 'fun' Comic Sans.

FACT #03 Comic Sans is not overused. It is misused. Due to the above mentioned fact #02, the widespread use of Comic Sans in amateur design has lead it to become associated with bad designs and has thus been tarred as unprofessional.

Specifically the use of the font in situations for which it was not intended has lead to its criticism. This is the main reason professional designers avoid it.

People can argue that other default fonts like Arial and Times New Roman are overused too, but why is there is no similar hatred of these fonts? Perhaps because it is more difficult to misuse these fonts. Comic Sans is distinctive and so stands out when used in the wrong context, so much more than the simpler fonts mentioned would. Comic Sans can never be taken seriously, it oozes childishness and yet it is often used in formal documents.

FACT #04 Comic Sans was designed to imitate comic book style lettering. It is definitely an informal font. If you must use it, use it for its intended purpose please.

Check out this article for some misuses:

http://sixrevisions.com/graphics-design/comic-sans-the-font-everyone-loves-to-hate/

And if you've not heard enough on Comic Sans, here's a very interesting article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/jun/20/in-defence-comic-sans-font

Anyway, back to the challenge...Only Paul and I entered this challenge. Paul is a little embarrassed to share his submission, so by default, I won!

This is my attempt to make Comic Sans look good. As you can see I have written 'Comic Sans can be OK' using Comic Sans to form the letters in an entirely different font. I thank you:

If you're confused and don't know what font to use for what, here's a brilliant guide:
http://inspirationlab.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/infographiclarge_v2.png

And just to keep you in suspense, the upcoming challenge is ... #02 Coding Blind

All will be revealed next week.