Fonts That Make You Look Lame
By Sheila ParrSome fonts scream TACKY and others whisper amateur, but if you’re not a designer you probably have no idea if you’re committing a font felony. To protect yourself from snotty judgments about your taste and experience level, follow these two simple rules in all typed work: manuscripts, emails, proposals, and, of course, books.
RULE #1: Avoid the following five fonts at ALL costs,
1. Comic Sans. Unless you are writing a comic book or materials for a film adapted from a comic book (i.e., Sin City—great design) don’t use it.
2. Sand. Never. Ever.
3. Times. Very few books have body text set in Times. This is a dead giveaway of an amateur design.
4. Papyrus. Even for cookbooks. This font is overused to the point of exhaustion. Pay attention to restaurant menus and you’ll see what I mean.
5. Lucida Calligraphy. This common script font is very recognizable, but rarely appropriate.
RULE #2: Use the following three fonts at your own risk.
Copperplate, Eurostile, and Courier are great fonts—if you know how to use them. These typefaces are easily recognizable and have uncommon letterform shapes—a recipe for poor design if you’re not careful. Use these fonts sparingly, or leave them to a professional.
TIP: For really unique fonts and fresh ideas, check out http://www.dafont.com/. They add new fonts on a regular basis, and their prices are hard to beat.
June 14th, 2006 at 3:55 pm
YEEESSS! and Amen. What a great and informative guide to fonts.
Please include another offense: Never use typewriter quotes. Never.
Oh, and please include using “Broadway” as another punishable offense when printing anything related to a movie, producing a movie sign, etc.
June 17th, 2006 at 10:53 am
I tried to sign up for your weekly newsletter, and couldn’t make the little button work! So can I sign up this way? Your site is fascinating,and sooooo informative! Wish I’d come across it sooner, but I promise to make up for it now, I’ll read every word you send. I am a publisher and a writer, (not self published)and a glutton for punishment! GSB
August 3rd, 2006 at 6:02 pm
Hi, I was interested by your list of fonts that we should never use. I agree with several of them. As a writer who works with six graphic designers, I asked them what they thought. They wondered about your cryptic inclusion of Sand in the list. May I inquire, why “Never. Ever.”?
August 25th, 2006 at 2:59 pm
When you listed “Times” as a lame font, did you also mean Times New Roman? Are they different?
October 24th, 2006 at 10:36 pm
i love typography and of course, i already knew those rules.
however, it’s never too late to teach them to the “mortals” i’m a graphic design student and sometimes i make some little ‘works’ from my carrer, but when the client ask if i can use Comic Sans in their desing, I….
oh God! the things they said to me:
“please i want this font so bad, i’ve seen everywhere”
-(me thinking) “yeah, me too and i’m tired”
excellent writing
saludos from Monterrey, Mexico
//
November 28th, 2006 at 7:27 am
Hello there. I am a first time author. My publisher insisted that I submit the copy in doublespaced twelve-point Times New Roman.
The finished book uses a san serif type that I cannot identify, but I think it looks pretty good. It is a textbook about animation so I don’t expect it to be in the amazon top twenty, yet it is doing pretty well even though it’s not published til March.
I’m assuming my publisher knows what they are doing regarding publicity and advertising but I do plan to publicize the book on my own as well. Thank you for the interesting site.
December 5th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
While not surprising, this is interesting. Do you have a list of fonts writers SHOULD use? What fonts are recommended to impress and portray professionalism?
December 15th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Ha ha–I really, really overused Papyrus–I think I still have it scattered throughout my other website(uh0h).
But web design and book design are different so…
Anyway-I agree.Use a font so that the print is easy to read as well as goodlooking.So simple.
August 27th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
I LOATHE Papyrus. I have started to take pictures of it popping up all over the place. Thank you for denouncing it!