Every designer has their favorite fonts, the fonts that they don’t really care for, the fonts they personally have something against… and then there’s the universal, unspoken “Do Not Use” list that designers all know and love to hate. For most of these fonts, they were simply overused at one point because back in the day, when your computer came with less than 30 fonts, everyone and their dog was using these fonts. Non-designers who now had a computer and could whip something up on paint for the first time. So, please don’t take offense if you’ve used a font on this list, but today we’re going to share with you the fonts your professional designer will never use (even if you ask).
1. Papyrus – This actually isn’t a terrible font. But like I said before it was WAY overused as it was one that was very readable yet decorative enough to stand out. Most designers now cringe at the sight of it.
2. Lucida anything… but especially handwriting or calligraphy – Again, one that was decorative yet readable and now all designers have been trained to loath it because it was on too many pieces that weren’t professionally designed.
3. Comic Sans – I don’t know why, but this one gets me the most. Unless you are a preschool teacher (and my mother is, and does use this font, and it still makes me cringe just a little) this font has no place on your design piece. I’m sorry. But it just doesn’t scream “I’m Sophisticated!”, “I am a serious business person!” or “This company is legitimate!”. To me it just yells, “I have a really old computer and this font was different.”
4. Arial and Times New Roman – These I cannot speak for other designers on. These are my two personal, “drive me crazy” fonts. Again, because they are on every computer and are used so often.
Again, I’m not here to offend those who have used these fonts. I’m sure at some point in my life, back when we had a computer with a big box screen, I used every single one of these fonts (in fact, I know I did). But these days there are so many amazingly designed fonts available to us for such a reasonable price, that it just doesn’t make sense to choose the ones that were over-used at some point in time. The entire point is to stand out, pick a font that matches your brand, and make your designs look professional and impressive. At Transformation Marketing, we can help you with your design – fonts and all – and don’t be surprised if we don’t use these fonts listed above.