Comic Sans, you're so patronising

Watching the breakfast news over the top of Harlan Coben this morning, there was an article on a man who has been searching the River Thames for tiny bits of metal - the Doves Type font. Robert Green, the man on a mission, was explaining how he thought that each font had a personality, and I thought here's someone I could have an interesting conversation with. Obviously, I should have thought: here's someone with whom I could have an interesting conversation, but it was early and I'd only had two cups of coffee, so I didn't. 'Mr Green,' I would say, 'don't you agree that Bauhaus 93 is so 1980s nightclub? And that Harlow Solid Italic should only ever be used by hairdressers?' 

But it did get me thinking about the fonts I use. Blogger gives you a very limited choice, (unless you know how to change html codes, which I don't) so I use Verdana, only because I don't like the others. The OU likes you to use Times New Roman, but my assignments are bad enough without that, so I rebel and use Calibri. On the school interactive whiteboards, I opt for Century Gothic (in bold for the added 'and quietly, thank you.') Comic Sans should not be allowed out of the reception class. Anyone who uses it when writing for adults should be taken to one side and given a talking-to. 

(And only one exclamation mark, thank you)

Whilst hunting on-line for links to the Doves Font story, I realised it wasn't big news. More space was given to the fact that supermarkets have been asked to move daffodils away from the fruit and veg sections, in case people eat them. See here if you really need reminding that the stupid gene seems to be taking over. 

What I did find, however, was a great time-waster - ideal for whiling away those hours when you should be writing assignments (in the font of your choice): http://www.typetasting.com/psychology.html is on the 'Psychology of Type'. There are several font-based quizzes, which form part of a research project and have stolen my Saturday morning. (Apparently, I should date a Futura font, as it's stylish, open and gives a well-considered opinion.)

Finally, if you are into fonts and the like, I recommend the brilliantly bonkers book Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan. 

And... having just read through this, it's becoming more apparent that the essay on animism was the right choice...