# Helvetica is driving me crazy! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 15, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066 "2007-12-15T03:09:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066/21 "2007-12-17T18:12:29Z")
[QUOTE=Auntbeast] It was the default font on a white background using cheesy clip art. My defense? “Dude, I have over 3k fonts on my computer, I haven’t used the default font for a website in my life.” I also pointed out that I could put up a better website in 5 minutes and wouldn’t use a WYSIWYG editor to save my life. I think my font geek got me off. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but of those 3k fonts on your computer, there are only a handful that you can use on a webpage, unless you want 80% of the people who visit the page to see something different and possible not even readable. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066/22 "2007-12-17T18:20:46Z")
Some in this thread might be interested in [this](http://www.ms-studio.com/typecasting.html) article — _Typecasting: The Use (and Misuse) of Period Typography in Movies_. The article amused me anyway, but I also learned a thing or two about some of the common typefaces you see around. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066/23 "2007-12-17T23:24:20Z")
[QUOTE=Knowed Out] …pound their fists on the floor after they thought they had overcome all the font management problems only to see Courier print out AGAIN. [/QUOTE] Twenty years ago, it was not much better in an all-Mac shop as you had to mess with screen (or display) fonts and printer fonts, and there was a whole industry devoted to typeface and font management. Amazingly, Suitcase still lives on… I’ve all but given up on the world - nobody has a yearn to kern, and everyone’s dreading leading. And I want the head of whoever created MS Comic Sans on a stake! ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066/24 "2007-12-18T01:04:31Z")
You’re [not alone](http://bancomicsans.com/). The [creator](http://www.connare.com/comic.htm) has said that he never intended it to be used outside a fairly specific application, and only came up with it because of, “the shock of seeing Times New Roman used in an inappropriate way.” Basically, he’s really, really sorry, but the main reason it’s abused is because people suck. Not his fault that when looking for a tool they saw a sledgehammer and thought it could be used to fix the TV. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066/25 "2007-12-18T01:16:39Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] And I want the head of whoever created MS Comic Sans on a stake! [/QUOTE] How about people who use it for their curriculum? ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066/26 "2007-12-18T01:59:03Z")
One of the great works of literature of the 20th century, _Cvltvre Made Stvpid_, by Tom Weller, author of _Science Made Stupid_, has a brilliant chapter on typography. (His chart of proofreading symbols is an enduring source of joy to editors everywhere.) His list of typefaces includes Velvetica. That sums it up for me. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066/27 "2007-12-18T02:11:33Z")
I thought it would be boring, but the Typography I course I took for my art degree was actually quite interesting. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066/28 "2007-12-18T02:38:42Z")
[http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=World\_Class\_Cities.txt](http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=World_Class_Cities.txt) Always interesting. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066/29 "2007-12-18T14:34:55Z")
If you’ve really got Helvetica stuck in your head, may I suggest a technique to get it out?? Go to the hamster dance site & watch / listen for a couple minutes, then hum the song a time or two. Soon enough you won’t have any thoughts about Helvetica. See? Wasn’t that helpful? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066/30 "2007-12-18T22:42:01Z")
Don’t learn about [METAFONT](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/METAFONT) either. It’s already eaten Knuth and Hofstadter alive, and it is still hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066/31 "2007-12-18T23:07:20Z")
[QUOTE=ChiefScott] Orphans and widows are the bane of my existance. [/QUOTE] You could start a Windows and Orphans Fund and pay to have them taken out for good. Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Try the veal. 😃 I admit here, in the safety of the Internet, that I use Comic Sans all the time. I’m also a huge fan of Arial Rounded Bold MT, a variation with smoothed corners of Arial. I don’t there is anything wrong with Comic Sans. I think there is something wrong with people who think there is something wrong with people who use Comic Sans. Cartooniverse [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helvetica-is-driving-me-crazy/430066.md?page=1)