Top Five Overused Fonts

In the design industry, professionals become all too familiar with specific design elements, fonts, and other design fads being run into the ground and even further. Overuse and misuse of fonts can be detrimental to effective design. Professionals, make sure you never misuse fonts.  Demand only the best from designers. A good designer can point you in the right direction of great fonts that meet your needs and are effective. Designers, please keep up with good typography practices. In the age of the Internet, there is no excuse for falling behind with free informational resources and font collections online. While some people may hate a font you wish to use, make sure it is a font that can actually be defended. For example, I actually use Impact occasionally when I want something to be big, bold, and have an impact. Many designers hate Impact, but this is because it is often misused. Correct usage can often be acceptable with outcast fonts. Below is my list of five overused and misused fonts that can rarely be defended.

5. Comic Sans

Lets start with the most obvious contender. Comic Sans never has an appropriate use outside of comics, as suggested by the name. Supporters of this font say it is cute, fun, and the real offender is the most commonly used Times New Roman. I don’t have that big of an issue with Times New Roman. It is a very standard font made specifically for universal needs, even if it is very heavily used. Comic Sans was not created for the tacky uses it is utilized for, it was created specifically and exclusively for use as a comic book font, and most people don’t even use it for that. No, it is not a cute childish font. I have never seen a child write like this or be amused by this font. This is a font popularized by those who know next to nothing about design and think children write like clean, boring, comic book text. There are hundreds of alternatives that are so much cuter and much more unique, and inversely, there are zero excuses to ever touch this font. While this font is one of the most annoyingly abused fonts of all time, it is at the bottom of my list because people are starting to see its obnoxiousness slowly but surely. There are many sites dedicated to hating Comic Sans and even a game where you can try to shoot and kill Comic Sans. Just like real font, it pops up all over the place and keeps coming back.

4. Curlz

This font, and many of the fonts close to it, are absolutely ridiculous. Curlz is horrible for most of the same reasons as Comic Sans. No, this font is not cute. It is tacky! It is even worse than Comic Sans because it is horrendous to read. I’ve seen this font used with far too many spas, event planners, and more feminine branding. It starts off as the font for your daughter’s birthday card and slowly leaks into your life. Maybe the ugly little curls on the letters hypnotize people and take away their sense. Please, I beg of you, never ever use Curlz! The only thing saving this font from the top worst font of all time position is the fact that most designers recognize it for the awful font it is. Unfortunately, not everyone sees the horror.

3. Copperplate

Copperplate is one of the worst fonts out there. It is a virus taking over the world of typography. Copperplate has its uses, I suppose. I could possibly justify its use in something that is supposed to look a bit steampunk or have the feel of stamped metal. Unfortunately, there is a very high chance you are harboring several misuses of this font in your home or office at this very second. Even its name is a horrible misuse. Copperplate Gothic is neither a gothic san-serif font nor a typeface used in copperplate engraving. It is used in political campaigns, in packaging, and so many more ridiculously inappropriate situations. This very strong, bold, and belligerent font should not be used, much less overused. There are too many alternatives to this font, yet it is everywhere and used entirely wrong. Take a look at the highly amusing ihatecopperplate.blogspot.com blog site for several examples of the overuse and misuse of Copperplate. Even a site jokingly devoted to loving the font, ilovecopperplategothicbold.com, shows some recent usages of the font that don’t do much to prove Copperplate’s supposed “greatness.” This font is far too abrasive to be used for much of anything that doesn’t involve a lot of steel and strongmen.

2. Papyrus

I used this font once. It was for a 6th grade project about Egypt. Tons of other people use this font for logos, signs, and other designs. This font is very often used by spas, cosmetologists, restaurants, and coffee shops. I most recently saw it used on a large sign for a pho restaurant, so it is obviously getting a wide array of use. This font was meant to looked like aged writing on papyrus. While some argue it looks very natural and earthy, it is being vastly overused and misused. Spas should stick to something a bit more fluid and as for the coffee shops using the trying to seem more organic an independent, I hardly think the inappropriate use of an overused and disgustingly popular font is going to help you catch the eye of the indie crowd. This font is near the top of my list because it has become so commercially popular. A modified version was even used in Avatar. While the Avatar use was somewhat acceptable, it caused a boom in use by designers. Yes, even designers are regularly using Papyrus now. 90% of people using Papyrus should not be. Of the 10% with a decent reason, all of them should probably find a less overused alternative. For a few examples of Papyrus’s awful misuse, visit www.papyruswatch.com or www.ihatepapyrus.info.

1. Zapfino

This one really might surprise those of you who haven’t kept the actual purpose of this article in mind. These are not just a few of the worst fonts. These are the most overused fonts. I really liked this font and I have used it before. I felt it worked really well with the design and Autumn theme. The next week, I noticed twenty-eight jewelry advertisements that week alone using the exact same font. It would be impossible to go through your ads online and offline and not find Zapfino. Go through a magazine, and I can personally guarantee you will find at least one example of Zapfino. This font had its uses, but it has been run into the ground to the point that I strongly recommend against using it. Good luck find wedding media that doesn’t use this font. So many menus, and especially wine lists, now think this font is the sure tool to make them look more high end. This font is the new Comic Sans, Papyrus, Curlz, and Copperplate all rolled into one. There are even people starting blogs, such as www.ihatezapfino.com, who say that they will not give patronage to any institution using Zapfino in any media. This is a fresh, stinging new wound in the world of design I strongly advise against poking at.

For a hilarious article about overused fonts, head on over to InspirationBit.com for “A Plea From the 16 Most Overused Fonts.” The list doesn’t exactly match up with mine, but they have some pretty good points. If you have any other overused fonts you’d like to rant about, and fonts listed you’d like to defend, or any fonts you’d like to suggest instead of these overused fonts, feel free to comment!