Vincent Connare, the creator of Comic Sans, has long defended what is widely considered the world’s worst font. People who dismiss the childish font “don’t know anything about design,” he told Dezeen in 2014. There has been no such vocal defense of so called “ethnic typefaces, ” those which appropriate the aesthetic flourishes of foreign scripts to suggest that a brand has exotic origins. Yet they continue to be part of the visual noise of Western countries, screaming out from food labels, restaurant menus and posters. To anyone familiar with the alphabet being aped, they are about as authentic as the British tourist who wishes his companions bone apple tea prior to eating. This story is from Kinfolk Issue Forty-One Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 45 Bad Idea: Paper Straws On the straw man of sustainability. Arts & Culture Issue 44 Bad Idea: Context Collapse Why misunderstandings multiply online. Arts & Culture Issue 43 Bad Idea: P-Hacking What happens when researchers go fishing. Arts & Culture Issue 42 Bad Idea: Year Wraps An algorithmic celebration of your most depressing digital data. Arts & Culture Issue 38 Bad Idea: Gender Reveals It’s time to burst the (pink or blue) bubble of this trend. Arts & Culture Issue 37 Bad Idea: Lawns A green and pleasant death knell for diversity.
Arts & Culture Issue 42 Bad Idea: Year Wraps An algorithmic celebration of your most depressing digital data.
Arts & Culture Issue 38 Bad Idea: Gender Reveals It’s time to burst the (pink or blue) bubble of this trend.
