In the article “What Technical Writing Students Should Know About Typeface Personality,” Mackiewicz quotes Burmark as saying that “certain fonts are out of place in certain situations.” I feel like the importance of typeface choice is greatly overlooked when people are trying to create an effective document. Mackiewicz explains that since modern word processing software presents users with a large variety of typefaces to choose from, users sometimes end up trying to use a less traditional font in order to convey a sense of their personality through their document. Of course, my involvement on reddit and meme websites prompts me to bring up the use of Comic Sans in serious documents. The Internet has certainly taken note of the misuse of this typeface because it is so commonly presented in homemade signs and other amateur documents that are meant to have a more stern impact. Comic Sans is a typeface that presents a light-hearted and almost childish vibe when used in a document. It is meant to look sort of handwritten, and it reminds me of being in kindergarten and learning the alphabet.
This sign is a perfect example of the misuse of a typeface (not to mention excessive exclamation points), as well as the viewer’s reaction. An unprofessional-looking typeface should not be used when trying to convey serious information. Although, I must agree with the comment in the bottom left corner of the sign (“better than Papyrus”) because it would also be inappropriate to use a stylized script font because it would not convey the seriousness of the sign and would be much harder to read.
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