Through the controversy caused by its childish looks, the font Comic Sans has been a spark for very strong opinions among the students at Souderton Area High School.
The style of Comic Sans tends to be viewed in a negative light by anyone other than young children.
“It just looks stupid,” junior Krieg Pierce said.
According to Comic Sans creator Vincent Connare in a Fonts.com interview, the childish nature of the font originates from its intended purpose to be used in a program called Microsoft Bob.
It was a program that mimicked a home environment and used a character named Bob to explain the basic functions of a computer.
While the program itself was not well received, Comic Sans was never actually used in it since Comic Sans was not finished before the program was released on March 10, 1995.
Connare wanted a font that would fit the theme of Microsoft Bob, that being child-like and animated.
Thus, the resulting font, made in October of 1994, is considered unprofessional.
Freshman Jacob White said the font is “goofy and silly.”
Graphic designers Holly and Dave Comb started the Ban Comic Sans movement in 2002, mainly as a joke. Since then, it has gained so much momentum that they even wrote the “Ban Comic Sans Manifesto” which details what they consider to be the problems with Comic Sans.
For example, “[Comic Sans] is analogous to showing up for a black-tie event in a clown costume,” the manifesto said.
Junior Andreas Cruz believes the font to be beautiful and represent rebellion, going so far as to even want to join the Ban Comic Sans movement just to see other people fight against the movement.
“Comic Sans is the embodiment of the American spirit,” Cruz said.
The majority of students said they would join and/or support the movement.
However, one student strongly opposed the idea.
According to senior Dan Micsion, the Ban Comic Sans movement is “not Dan approved.”
However, Micsion still does not like the font, even if he disagrees with the ban for no reason in particular.
Junior Madelyne Scavitta likes Comic Sans ironically because it “gives everything an air of whimsiness.”
Apart from Scavitta, most people who like Comic Sans claimed it was in an ironic manner.
“It seems people fall into one of two camps: those who hate Comic Sans and those who pretend to like Comic Sans,” digital designer Michael Beausoleil said in a UX Collective article.
However, one student claims to have a genuine love for Comic Sans.
“Comic Sans is amazing. When used in projects it is equivalent to a hug. I love Comic Sans,” junior Novaley Ray said.
Ray perceives the font to be classic and beautiful, causing a little disagreement between her and sophomore Janmartel Benet.
They are on opposite ends of the Comic Sans spectrum.
“In society, Comic Sans is demonized and it is deserved,” Benet said.
There is also the group of people who have no strong opinion either way, even if they are only a select few.
“It’s a font. Not bad, not amazing,” junior Ryan Hill said.