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As a graphic designer, there’s not a day that goes by that I’m not thinking about typography. Whether it’s the placement of the type on the page or even choosing the font itself, it’s always on my mind. Your typography choice has psychological impacts on how your brand is perceived. Choosing a serif font over a sentence serif font can mean the difference between your brand being seen as elegant but dated or innovative. However in my opinion, and probably the opinion of most graphic designers, there are just some fonts that need to retire, preferably yesterday.
Comic Sans
This font was originally designed to be friendly and informal. I will concede that this font does have its place, like a comic book or a children’s book. Its single story letter case makes it more legible for children, however there are so many other fonts that are friendly and inviting that people can use instead. For example Uberhand Pro, Kopik, and SideNote, are all handwritten-style fonts that are just cleaner and not as widely used, so what you’re designing will be a little bit more unique. Comic sans, or any handwritten-style fonts, should definitely not be used on legal documents or any kind of formal signage, as it takes away from the seriousness of the message it’s trying to convey.
Papyrus
This font has definitely gotten the reputation in the design world as being ugly. Some people use it as a way to try to seem earthy – however, you should probably just use a grunge font or a script font for elegance. By using Adobe fonts like Fredericka the Greatest and Thirsty Rough instead of Papyrus, you get the added benefit of legibility, as people will now be able to read what you’re trying to convey.
Curlz MT
This font is curly, tilted, and hard to read. Curlz MT is what happens when a font tries way too hard to be whimsical. It might be cute for a preschool art show, but in almost any other context, it feels chaotic and messy. There are so many more cleaner whimsical script fonts, like Dreamboat and CornDog, which are Adobe fonts, that can convey the message more effectively.
There are probably a lot of fonts that I think people shouldn’t use but these are the three that come to mind. Using outdated or overused fonts doesn’t just make your design look amateur — it affects how people feel about your brand. Typography has power. It can convey elegance, excitement, trust, or playfulness. Or… it can make people cringe.
