Dyslexia and fonts

[Stephen Coates]

I am one of many people that doesn't really like Comic Sans and hates its inappropriate use in things other than comics (http://bancomicsans.com/main/).

However, I heard recently about how it is liked my many dyslexic people for some reason .

Harrison reminded us in another topic about how he is dyslexic. Since he does graphic design stuff, I was wondering what his opinion of Comic Sans is.

What about everyone else? Love it? Hate it?

[Harrison]

I loath it! Comic Sans is one of the worst fonts and I hate seeing it anywhere other than in comic/graphic novels, which is what it was designed and intended for.

And I have no understanding why most schools have an obsession with using it for everything they do. Maybe that has some link to dyslexia and easier reading of it that you mentioned?

But I haven't heard that dyslexic people liked it. I'm unsure about that. A lot of dyslexic people have problems reading certain fonts because of the sharp contrast between black text and the white paper/background, so the shapes of the letter jump around and get scrambled, so they have trouble reading them. That is why they use pink or yellow overlays placed over the page which can often help as it softens the sharp contrast on the page and allows them to read it easier. Maybe Comic Sans softer font shapes stops the letter jumping around as much? Not sure.

Regarding design. One thing you will find most designers say when asked about Comic Sans is that it should never be used for anything. It is probably hated as much as seeing more than 2 fonts being used in the same page or design.

[Stephen Coates]

Apparently schools use it because it has resemblance to the way teachers write on the blackboard.

[Harrison]

Really? Mad!

[Stephen Coates]

What's everyone's opinion on Calibri?

I've noticed that when organisations have changed to Office 2007 (or 2010), there have been big increased in the number of documents set in Calibri. Not surprising since it is the default font.

Can't say I dislike it but Helvetica would still be my preference.

[J T]

I saw one of the blokes on Jackass wearing an awesome T-shirt with 'Helvetica' on the front, but stylised to resemble the Metallica logo.

I hate comic sans. I think people use it because they think it is jolly and disarming, and don't realise that it looks really really stupid on signs and notices.