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c/bad-design-hall-of-fametheabennetttheabennett22h agoProlific Poster

My friend the graphic designer told me Comic Sans actually has a purpose.

She said it's one of the best fonts for people with dyslexia because the uneven letter shapes make each character distinct and easier to read. I always just thought it was ugly and overused, but now I'm wondering how many other 'bad' designs I've been totally wrong about.
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nathanh44
nathanh4420h ago
Honestly that's exactly what I heard too. My cousin has dyslexia and she swears by Comic Sans for reading long emails or documents. She told me the irregular spacing between letters is actually a feature not a bug because it stops the words from blurring together. Ngl it totally changed how I look at things like Papyrus or even that old-timey cursive font that nobody can read. Turns out a lot of "ugly" design choices were solving real problems but we just didn't know about them. Makes you wonder what other stuff we're judging too harshly without knowing the backstory.
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faith_smith
I mean yeah it's nice that people find Comic Sans helpful but saying the irregular spacing is a feature feels like a stretch. Most font designers spend years making letters look consistent and readable for the general public, not just for specific conditions. I've tried reading with Comic Sans and honestly it makes my eyes hurt more because the letters are so uneven. Papyrus and those cursive fonts are mostly just bad design trying to look fancy without thinking about readability at all. Just because one group of people finds something useful doesn't mean the rest of us were wrong to hate it, you know?
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