The ABC of Fonts Series Comic Sans

A compact and charming history of the font we love to hate by the New York Times best-selling author of Just My Type. Praise for Just My Type “Funny and fascinating, irreverent and playful yet endlessly illuminating, the book is an absolute treat for the type-nerd, design history geek, and general lover of intelligent writing with humor.” — Maria Popova, The Atlantic “Whether you’re a graphic designer or a layperson with no background in this area, reading what Garfield has to say will change the way you perceive the written word forever.” — Wes Bausmith, Los Angeles Times “Deliriously clever and entertaining.” — Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe Since its improvised creation at Microsoft in the mid-1990s, Comic Sans has become one of the most used and talked-about typefaces of the digital age. The subject of April Fools pranks and endless internet discourse, it has spawned a movement to ban it, inspired revivals and spinoffs, and continues to be widely promoted by educators. In this delightful history, best-selling author Simon Garfield tells the story of how Comic Sans emerged from speech bubbles on educational software to become one of the most recognized—and reviled—typefaces on earth. He considers how the computer transformed type into something that anyone could use and have an opinion on, explores how new fonts emerge with changing times and technology, and meets die-hard Comic Sans adherents and haters. He concludes the book by asking the unimaginable: Could Comic Sans now be the coolest typeface ever made?