Thursday, May 25, 2006

A proposal on Comic Sans (let's get serious)

So what did I try to do last night? — The morning-after feeling isn't that bad. These first sketches seem to work, to some degree at least. — Please note that I never even touched the Comic-glyphs. These shapes I made from scratch, which explains why they sometimes are a bit messy. And that this is a completely new font, not a Comic Sans copyright violation.

What is so wrong with Comic Sans, knowing it is used in large bodies of text, as titling, on both print and screen?

First of all. Its fake cartoony-ness to begin with. Almost every glyph in the font has got rounded 'bits' sticking out to make them look pen-scribbled. — I decided not to have those.

Second. The weird contrast. Comic seems monoline, but isn't. If you look at the upward curve of the a or the 'cracked' s, there is some variation. — For the time being I'll get rid of the monoline feel and increase the contrast slightly.

Third: round edges. I am aware that the round edges make the Comic Sans playful or funny — and therefore popular. So I will probably have to keep them. Nevertheless, I think a version with slightly inflated straight edges could work very well.

Four: the size-differences. It is quite easy to notice that the Comic doesn't really take the x-height seriously. Because this font is used by so many as a text-font, I'm afraid that's something that will have to go.

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