SYDNEY -- Something strange happened this morning.
One of Australia's most respected newspapers did something so disgraceful, you could hear the design world loudly gasp. The Sydney Morning Herald ran the most hated font in the world on its front page, as tears rolled down the face of typographers everywhere. In a throwback to the 90s, Comic Sans was vomited across the masthead, and popped into clip-art speech bubbles -- with no apology.
In an email to Buzzfeed written entirely in Comic Sans (still not funny), Herald editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir attempted to defend the newspaper's use of the font to express the comical aspects of an inquiry into corruption within the New South Wales government:
"As for the newspaper, the decision was made to match the surreal nature of the shocking revelations at the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) -- and it was felt the font would best depict the comic-book feel we were trying to give to the front; as if to make a mockery of the appalling displays in the witness box from a former politician and a current parliamentarian. I am very pleased with the result, but that’s about it."
In a show of total disrespect to design guidelines and the year 2014, Goodsir then described the font as "underrated."
Love that comic sans. Under-rated font! @rickeyre @bencubby. Appalled by ex Treasurer's claims he was cool with leaked documents. Outrage!— Darren Goodsir (@sirgooddarren) September 2, 2014
Before today, Comic Sans was dying a slow, painful death, as the memory of its use in mainstream, inappropriate ways finally started to fade. In 2010, Comic Sans tried to fight back from the grave with a monologue titled: "I'm Comic Sans, A**hole." But it was too little, too late.
Website Comic Sans Criminal says the only acceptable uses for Comic Sans are as follows:
When your audience is 11 years old.
When you're designing a comic.
Not falling into any of these categories, the Sydney Morning Herald started to feel the wrath of society. It hit hard and fast:
When they record the downfall of Fairfax, the comic sans front page will be seen as the beginning of the end pic.twitter.com/qEbOlfAeDn— Rob Stott (@Rob_Stott) September 2, 2014
DID THE @SMH JUST PUT COMIC SANS ON THE FRONT PAGE??!! THE HORROR!!! pic.twitter.com/xgaUHWTTPM— Michael Slezak (@MikeySlezak) September 2, 2014
Australia's top newspaper using comic sans on the front page. WHAT IS HAPPENING?! @MarkDiStef investigates. pic.twitter.com/E78FqetmxB— Ashley Perez (@itsashleyperez) September 2, 2014
.@smh unveils their new-look homepage. #ComicSans pic.twitter.com/ESpjP99T6Y— Matthew Jones (@mjonesy_87) September 3, 2014
BREAKING: SMH news conference resolves to do tomorrow's entire front page in Wingdings font #ComicSans— Bevan Shields (@bevanshields85) September 3, 2014
Comic Sans is not part of #teamaustralia— Drew Sheldrick (@drewsheldrick) September 2, 2014
Frankly, if #mediawatch doesn't have analysis on the ethics of using Comic Sans next week, the ABC should have a long, hard look at itself.— Amy Feldtmann (@AmyFeldtmann) September 2, 2014
If only the editor had seen this interesting infographic six hours earlier:
Using Comic Sans will cause economic ruin: http://t.co/rGoV4r0T8J— Kenneth Falck (@kennu) September 2, 2014