It is no secret that I am a bit of a font geek. It is also no secret that I (like many others) dislike the widespread use of Comic Sans. Sites such as Comic Sans Criminal are solely devoted to the derision of the font.
The main reasons why Comic Sans bears the brunt of this font snobbery, really comes down to fonts having a personality and purpose: in the case of Comic Sans, it has a childish, overly informal quality, that I feel suits a very limited range of writing.
Fonts are the clothes with which we dress our words.
We need to choose a font to match the way we want our text to be received. If we want to be taken seriously, Comic Sans would not be a natural choice.
Many educators choose Comic Sans deliberately because it is one of the few fonts available natively on both Mac and PC which has a ‘true a’ – that is, an ‘a’ which is a circle and stick (rather than the one used in my current font!). “I know Comic Sans isn’t the greatest,” they say, “but it has the ‘true a’.”
It’s time for me to be solution-focused! Here are some alternative fonts you can use that contain a ‘true a’.The following fonts you will need to download and install on your computer:
Hattori Hanzo Light Italic (make sure you select light italic, as the regular version does not have a ‘true a’.)
Aller Light Italic (make sure you select light italic, as the regular version does not have a ‘true a’.)
The following fonts are also Google Fonts, so you can use them in your docs/sites too.
Ubuntu Regular Italic (install the whole font family, or select regular italic to get the ‘true a’.)
Architect’s Daughter (this installed better for me within Google Apps)
I hope this helps you! What other fonts do you know of that have a ‘true a’?
Image Credit:
CC licensed (BY-ND) flickr photo by (debz): http://flickr.com/photos/debbybosman-debz/4109261288
Love Hatori Hanzo Italic, that’s my fave.
In Google Docs so many options, but my top choices are: Handlee & Shadows Into Light Two.
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Comic sans is in size 14 or larger has been shown to make reading easier for dyslexic learners. That is why I like it and use it a lot.
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Hi Danella,
I certainly approve and appreciate teachers taking into consideration dyslexic learners, however I am not sure their faith in Comic Sans is justified. This blog post https://creativemarket.com/blog/2014/05/14/is-comic-sans-easier-for-dyslexic-users-to-read is one of many indicating that font style (sans serif, Roman, monospaced) might have more of an impact on dyslexic learners.
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If you want a font that may work for dyslexic learners, try Open Dyslexic. The letters are heavy at the bottom, which is supposed to make them easier to read/less likely for the reader to see them as flipped or reversed.
On the website, http://opendyslexic.org/, they say, “There are two versions of OpenDyslexic in the (free) download. OpenDyslexic-Alta includes the handwritten/rounded/comic sans like/circle ‘a’ that you may like.”
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These are great, however I’m also a stickler for a true ‘q’. Do you know of any other good ones with both?
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OOoh, that is a great point! I will try to hunt some down! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
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Great post! I have a deep dislike of Comic Sans, and really like the alternatives you have listed here. I really like the way you described fonts as having a personality, and love the comicsanscriminal.com website. Thanks.
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I always felt it was a bit ridiculous too, however couldn’t really pin-point what it was about it until the notion of fonts having both a personality and a purpose was made clear to me. If you liked Comic Sans Criminal, you might also like College Humor’s Font Conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3k5oY9AHHM&hl=en-GB&gl=SG Sadly, not appropriate to share with the students I teach, but funny all the same.
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