The National Post Interview Transcript 1.28.04

1. When did you create the site? What's the story behind it?

Bancomicsans.com was started in July of 2002 in response to the rampant use and abuse of the typeface Comic Sans MS. The font had been popping up for years in innumerable inappropriate contexts from government documents to restaurant signage. Our calling was clear. It was time to take a stand. Our approach was adapted from Shepard Fairey's Obey Giant/Andre the Giant has a Posse campaign. Using stickers seemed a logical and cost-effective way to protest the font's proliferation.

2. Do you really think the Comic Sans font should be banned, or just restrained?

Drastic times call for drastic measures. I'm afraid restraint is no longer an option. In truth, however, we're using hyperbole to punctuate our position. I don't think it's possible to actually ban a typeface. The real purpose of the campaign is to draw attention to proper (and improper) type usage.

3. What, specifically, makes the font so loathesome?

The design of the font itself is not necessarily the problem. Though many typography professionals would concur that Comic Sans is a terribly ugly typeface, the main problem is proliferation and context. Vincent Connare designed the font to be used only for comic-style talk bubbles in Microsoft applications, not for the body text of important documents. Today, however, Comic Sans is used everywhere and nearly always used incorrectly. Even Mr. Connare himself stated that, "I am too personally amused when I go to restaurants and have to read it off the menu."

4. Do you think you might ever feel such hatred for another overused font?

Not really. Comic Sans pretty much takes the cake. It's the worst I've seen.

5. The creator of Comic Sans responded in a letter, which you've put a link to on your site. How did you feel after he responded? Do you feel bad about using his personal picture?

I was surprised he responded actually. The whole campaign began as a sort of tongue-in-cheek joke really. I honestly never thought he'd even see it. So when I read his response on Microsoft's website I emailed him, respectfully requesting permission to continue using his image. In return, I agreed that if the campaign ever becomes profitable, the funds will be used to start a typography scholarship in Connare's name.

6. How many people have requested posters/stickers/etc? How many hits has your site gotten?

I don't have exact numbers, but we've produced over three thousand stickers and they've gone to locations around the globe. Countless more have been downloaded and printed on stickerpaper from bancomicsans.com. We've also sold around 100 t-shirts, coffee mugs, posters and the like from our shop at Cafepress.
We started counting hits just under a year ago and in that time we've had 45 thousand unique visitors through our front page. Many other visitors surf in daily through our free fonts download page or our photos page. Numerous individuals now support the cause, but there's still a lot of work to do. We must press on in the name of good typography.

Back to press.