01.04.09

Vilmar

It’s either a joke or a hoax

I was gobsmacked when reading about the [real] possibility of Comic Sans being chosen as the official typeface for the 2012 London Olympics.

Following the controversy surrounding the Olympics logo, 2 years ago, the idea of using a typeface with such an unsophisticated aesthetics comes as another blow to the design community. The Olympic Delivery Authority has considered other options: Gill Sans, Times and, ultimately, a bespoke type family, but on the contrary of what common sense would suggest, the later was sadly ruled out on grounds of costs.

The ODA also argues that Comis Sans had a friendly, universal appeal and that it encourages access and participation with a particular appeal to the young audiences. Surely, there are many other options of typefaces that manage to bring together all the requirements imposed by the organizers, including technical aspects such as being an existing system font, already installed in most computers. Nevertheless, the stakeholders involved in the process look rather inclined to go down the mediocrity path over intelligence, risking to alienate the general public, let alone the visually literate one.

It is becoming clear that, unfortunately, the decisions made by the ODA concerning the Olympics’ design strategy, have been poorly advised in many instances, leading to the display of an inconsistent approach to this discipline in which, paradoxically, the UK is well known for its excellence.

I only hope the Comic Sans affair is a April 1st hoax. Otherwise, it is not funny.

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