The Worst Font of All Time
August 28, 2007
Just for kicks I did a Google search for “the worst font of all time” (the quote marks are important – it means that you’re searching for that exact phrase in that order. Just a little Google search tip for the inexperienced). Good thing I did. I came across a few excellent sites for anyone who is obsessed interested in typography. Check out I [heart] Papryus and the posts Fonts that Make You Look Lame and 10 Tragic Typefaces. Can I get an rousing amen for these?
I have yet to find the site exposing the true awfulness of Sand — aka the bane of my existence. True story:
I was teaching an intro graphic design class. As an assignment, I gave the class some pictures and text to create a tropical themed multi-page brochure. One of my students set the entire thing in Sand. Headlines, body text, captions, everything. When I asked him why he chose this particular “font” (I even used air quotes), his answer was that since it was a beach destination, Sand seemed like the perfect choice. He picked the font based on the name.
Nice guy. Did not have a future in the design field.
Welcome to the blogosphere!
You know, you would’ve really liked the Hampshire student who designed posters for me last year. For his senior thesis or whatever they call it there, he spent the year designing his own fonts. I should’ve introduced you. And I am sad that Papyrus has died the death of overuse. I loved that font — five years ago, when it wasn’t being used by everyone on the planet. I think the same thing is going to happen really soon to Cezanne and its brethren. I liked that one 2 years ago, but now it’s everywhere.
Comment by elizasmom — August 29, 2007 @ 3:43 pm
AM - I wish I’d met him. There’s nothing like sharing your obsession with someone similarly obsessed.
I designed my own font, too, as part of an online course I took with the AIGA and MIT (yes, that MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Who’s fancy now?). I’ll post it when I get a minute.
Comment by Leslie Tane Design — August 29, 2007 @ 3:49 pm