Comic Sans Use in Web Design

Comic Sans is in the heart of a “hate campaign” aimed at erasing this font type from existence. Even the underlying hate was turned into a joke by image macros. The objection to Comic Sans largely stems from its inappropriateness in websites and other publications that are intended to convey professionalism.

Hate or no hate, the font is still available with font packages for Microsoft and MacOS operating systems, and sees widespread use in signs and video productions, particularly those made using Windows’ built-in Movie Maker. Unfortunately, you won’t see this font type much in web designs as not too many designers have a love for it.

Hate campaigns notwithstanding, Comic Sans is still categorized as a web-safe font. However, the font only works for Microsoft and MacOS platforms and not so much on Unix platforms. More suitable fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman, and Courier are known to work on all platforms. This, perhaps, contributes further to the unpopularity of Comic Sans.

The “web-safety” of a font is affected by its compatibility with various platforms. A font used in one system that isn’t compatible with another can create web design issues since the latter will automatically switch to a working font in its database. As Comic Sans is a bit larger than other fonts, the arrangement of the text can get messed up. For this reason, designers prefer fonts with universal compatibility.