Views: 9,451   Voters: 105   Comments: 15
Started by: karj on November 6, 2007

Great type is rare and bad is commonplace, but what about the truly horrible? These are the typefaces that make our world an uglier place. My non-designer friends may think I'm over-the-top on this one, but some of these should be considered a blight on society. ( Edited by karj )  

Worst typefaces of all time
Image posted by karj
#1
Comic Sans

It's a little like kicking someone who's already down, but I guess I'm that kind of person. Please join me in a celebratory kick at one of the fonts we most love to hate! :-)

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#2
Papyrus

The typeface of tacky wedding invitations of the nineties, it seems like this one just keeps bubbling up. I'd like to think that someone could finally extinguish this one for good, but those 1,001 Free Font CDs keep it on life support.

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#3
Curls MT

I like this style!!!!!

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#4
brush script

strictly used by amateurs

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#6
Times New Roman

just because it's boring

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#9
Critter

Oh God; what the hell were they thinking?

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Zapf Chancery... the worst!

Posted 2 months ago

Comic Sans and Curlz..... shudder.

Posted 4 months ago

Wholly crap, who thought typefaces could be such a hot button topic?

Posted 7 months ago

I remember a song called 'GERMAN BOLD ITALIC' by Towa Tei and Kylie Minogue... a song about a typeface!! lol... fascinating collaboration...

Posted 1 year ago

There are no bad faces... according to Spiekermann. Every typeface was developed for a reason, even comic sans! It would be an interesting design challenge to restrict yourself to use only the so called 'worst' faces.

In my opinion the worst typefaces are generally the free faces. There are usually many problems with x-heights lining up correctly, character width consistency, etc. I would rather use Papyrus or Comic Sans over gratis fonts any day!

Posted 2 years ago

Am I the only one who hates Gill Sans? I mean. comic and papyrus, sure. but i dont like gill with its funny little i

Posted 2 years ago

I just remember the time I had a debate with my well educated aunt about why comic sans was the worst font ever. She continued to debate that it was the best. Saying, "Its pretty." Its about anything but pretty.

Posted 2 years ago

I actually received the worst resume I've read in 24 years. All in Capitals and Papyrus.

oh man, crumpled that up fast

Posted 2 years ago

Hobo should make the cut too!

Posted 2 years ago

Chrynkow (? can't read it!) well put!

'It's the Times New Roman of the lightly educated.'

ha!

Posted 2 years ago

Some departments at the university where I work have a habit of using Comic Sans to promote important or official events… Eeeeeek. But then again, I sometimes wonder if Comic Sans abuse is better than those who like to use a script font (like Commercial Script) – in ALL CAPS – to promote a formal evening event. At least you can read Comic Sans!

Posted 2 years ago

I hate Comic Sans! I remember using it before my life as a designer started... I am now ashamed. I hate it when designers use it, it is so office-potluck!

Posted 2 years ago

Good note Linda, and for what it's worth, I feel badly for the creator. In my mind, it's not so much the typeface that's a problem, but rather how people use it. I suppose it's an issue of typographic suitability. Or, perhaps it is just the type equivalent of "Achy Breaky Heart". ;-)

Posted 2 years ago

A note about Comic Sans (from Wikipedia):

Comic Sans has become the subject of a campaign by some designers to limit or eliminate its use, on the grounds that (as typographic purists claim) it is poorly designed and that its inclusion in the Microsoft system fonts package lends itself to inappropriate use—for example, as a text face in documents or at large sizes in signage.

Some typeface designers say that the typeface is poorly drawn, virtually equal weight being given to the downstrokes and horizontals, and little thought given to the kerning between character pairs, eliminating any of the informal characteristics of true hand-drawn lettering.

Microsoft designer Vincent Connare says that he began work on Comic Sans in October of 1994. In his defense, Connare claims that it was not originally designed as a typeface, but as a solution to the problem of finding lettering suitable for the packaging of children’s software (MS Bob), although the distinction between 'typeface' and 'lettering' in this context is somewhat obscure.

Posted 2 years ago

Even though it had a good run, I think Optima should be locked up and not touched for 50 years. It's the Times New Roman of the lightly educated.

Posted 2 years ago
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