What's wrong with san-serif font?

[Chronitis]

I keep hearing people complain about it. Are they just messing with me, or is there really an issue with that font?

[joannekwan]

Like used in text bubbles? The sans-serifness isn't an issue if it's a decent font.

You just don't want to use sans-serif fonts in like a book for the main body of text because it's more straining to read after a long while. That's what I learned in my graphic design classes anyway.

[Kayke]

Typically comic fonts are sans-serif and all caps.

In what context are people complaining?

[keii4ii]

What kind of sans-serif are we talking about? Is it like, Helvetica?

[StopWatchers]

Good graphic design practice is san serif fonts are generally better for the web and serif fonts are better for print. Both these relate to long format pieces, with paragraphs. As joannekwan said above, san serif fonts when written in long form can be straining on the eye in print form, in the same way serif fonts can strain the eye when reading long form on a screen.

Comics though, within the word bubble format, I would say doesn't fit with these guidelines. That's not usually more than a few lines of text in a bubble, and the imagery the viewer looks at in-between reading allows the eyes to rest.

The people who may be complaining are complaining about san serif fonts more in a general sense. San serif fonts are very popular right now in the graphic design world, they fit in with the minimalist trend that's taken over the field in the past couple year. It could just be people who are tired of the trend and want to see something different. I personally, as a professional graphic designer, see no problem with san serif fonts. Use the font that fits the job.

When it comes to comics though, I think complaining about a style of font is irrelevant, as the font should fit with the tone of your comic. If the font works with your comic, people shouldn't even notice it.

[UzukiCheverie]

Yeah, like, "san-serif" isn't a font, it's just a type of font. So there are tons of fonts out there that fall under the san-serif category (including Anime Ace, which is a very commonly used font in comics because it's the general font used in manga and such). Even most handwritten fonts are typically san-serif, by the definition of the word. So I can't say if there have been any complaints about san-serif, other than the dreadful comic sans, which is sans-serif.

[respheal]

@StopWatchers's explanation is spot-on, but I gotta ask: @DexterityMaxity, are you sure you don't mean people complaining about "comic sans"? Comic Sans is a font itself, not a family of fonts. The font itself is....okay....and it has its place, it's just that it's overused, much like its brother Papyrus (nyeh heh heh). It's the font used when people without much experience in typography want to make something "fun" or "whimsical" and, due to its overuse, it now just looks unprofessional.

http://www.comicsanscriminal.com/

[SleepingPoppy]

Just in case a visual reference is helpful to anyone:

(source)

[NanettesClouds]

@respheal and @StopWatchers got the just if it, I wanna add that they might also be complaining about your use of a "typed" font instead of a "handwriting" font. Comics have a long history of using handwritten text as it fits in better with the drawings in most cases, and some people take issue when the text doesn't look handwritten.

Would you be willing to share a page of your comic so we could maybe have a better idea of what the issue is?

[Ironscarf]

I think UzukiCheverie and respheal are probably right - the wording of the OP fits the description of Comic Sans much better than it's fits countless thousands of sans-serif fonts. What other font can inspire so much anger?!

The issue isn't just that it's overused, but also that it has comic in the title, giving the impression it's a comic book style font. Now a good comic font is a beautiful thing, but Comic Sans is not beautiful. It looks like it was kicked down several flights of stairs by someone who never looked at comic lettering. Not one letter pays tribute to the conventions developed for word balloons and captions by all those skilled craftspersons - every single character is the wrong shape. They should have called it Yard Sale Sans.

(apologies, calling out Comic Sans is not big and it's not clever)

[UzukiCheverie]

It looks like it was kicked down several flights of stairs by someone who never looked at comic lettering. Not one letter pays tribute to the conventions developed for word balloons and captions by all those skilled craftspersons - every single character is the wrong shape. They should have called it Yard Sale Sans.

bless you

bless you and this entire quote

[NanettesClouds]

Relevant:

[Luminosophy]

People who hate comic sans should get to know comic neue! It's a re-design of comic sans that looks practical and much more stylish.

http://comicneue.com/

[UzukiCheverie]

Relevant:

boy howdy i sure as hell don't wanna be that guy lol (the guy who created comic sans)

[J.Z.Castillo]

Comics and visual communications usually stick to sans-serif fonts because they are visual, like advertisements and what not. Most sites on the internet are also sans-serif because they are visual. They are designed to have lots of space around letters for your eyes to bounce around an area. Books, as in the ones you sit down to read not the ones with pictures (coffee table books etc), use serif fonts because they are easier on the eyes. Serif makes it easier to read the space between letters, words, and lines of text so it makes your eyes less tired and prolongs your reading time.

I don't think either one are the correct answer, you can use a sans-serif or a serif font and still miss the mark. Typography is so much more than your letters being elaborate or not. You should give us more info so we aren't just having a discussing on font and type sounding like pretentious graphic designers with nothing to go on hahaha

[Chronitis]

novels and books are when I hear this come up

[Chronitis]

Yeah, I did mean to say comic sans, sorry about that.

[Down_the_Rabbithole]

In my opinion, san-serif fonts are jarring to see in comics, especially in speech bubbles. It looks strange and robotic in a speech bubble. Other fonts used in comics are designed to look more organic. It makes things look more human.

That's just what I think, though.

[UzukiCheverie]

Really? I would think it would be the complete opposite - the serif font would look a lot more text-like and less organic than a san serif font, which typically has a lot more flexibility with how its built due to not having, you know, the serif.

[Down_the_Rabbithole]

Serif fonts are also pretty bad. The serif and sans-serif font families are both pretty basic. Some of the ones in the cursive font family can be pretty nice-looking. Just so long as they're legible.