Font Police is patrolling the world for bad typography. We issue misdemeanours for spelling mistakes and lengthy sentences in our criticisms.

This is a light-hearted humour site, with no offence intended. Send ideas to submissions@ followed by fontpolice.org.

Posts tagged with USA

Comic Sans skin care Emily W. caught this when watching Shark Tank on ABC. Now, the designer of Comic Sans is a friend of ours so we don’t object to his typeface existing, especially as he only ever designed it to be used in one program. But when it’s used this badly, it qualifies for inclusion in the Font Police files. An oversized cap. Bad letterspacing between the first cap and the next letter. One line squashed and another line stretched electronically—with that first N squashed more. And no, organic skin care is not really a Comic Sans sort of a product. As Emily writes, ‘Maybe if they knew enough to hire a proper designer, they would have gotten a better deal!’

Comic Sans skin care Emily W. caught this when watching Shark Tank on ABC. Now, the designer of Comic Sans is a friend of ours so we don’t object to his typeface existing, especially as he only ever designed it to be used in one program. But when it’s used this badly, it qualifies for inclusion in the Font Police files. An oversized cap. Bad letterspacing between the first cap and the next letter. One line squashed and another line stretched electronically—with that first N squashed more. And no, organic skin care is not really a Comic Sans sort of a product. As Emily writes, ‘Maybe if they knew enough to hire a proper designer, they would have gotten a better deal!’

No solicitors, etc. Photographed in Newark, California, in September 2000. We already know it’s bad to artificially expand type (‘All trucks prohibited’) but why expand a condensed typeface (‘From using this entrance’)? If you expand a condensed typeface, you’d wind up at the normal width, so wouldn’t it just make sense to use the normal one to begin with? This is a lesson in how to make Helvetica look ugly.

No solicitors, etc. Photographed in Newark, California, in September 2000. We already know it’s bad to artificially expand type (‘All trucks prohibited’) but why expand a condensed typeface (‘From using this entrance’)? If you expand a condensed typeface, you’d wind up at the normal width, so wouldn’t it just make sense to use the normal one to begin with? This is a lesson in how to make Helvetica look ugly.

fuckyeahhelvetica: This Tumblr Tuesday we are proud to announce a very special offer to all of our followers from The MIT Press and their latest publication, Helvetica and the New York City Subway System by Paul Shaw. For one month only, if you visit http://mitpress.mit.edu/FYHelvetica or use the promo code FYSHAW at checkout, you will receive a 40% discount on this fantastic book that every typography enthusiast should own. Shaw describes the slow typographic changeover (supplementing his text with more than 250 images—photographs, sketches, type samples, and documents). He places this signage evolution in the context of the history of the New York City subway system, of 1960s transportation signage, of Unimark International, and of Helvetica itself. This is a one time offer so please reblog and spread the word while there’s still time! Thank you! Not Helvetica What gets me is why the cover is in Akzidenz-Grotesk (which I know NY used for years). Maybe another title would be better?

fuckyeahhelvetica:

This Tumblr Tuesday we are proud to announce a very special offer to all of our followers from The MIT Press and their latest publication, Helvetica and the New York City Subway System by Paul Shaw. For one month only, if you visit http://mitpress.mit.edu/FYHelvetica or use the promo code FYSHAW at checkout, you will receive a 40% discount on this fantastic book that every typography enthusiast should own.

Shaw describes the slow typographic changeover (supplementing his text with more than 250 images—photographs, sketches, type samples, and documents). He places this signage evolution in the context of the history of the New York City subway system, of 1960s transportation signage, of Unimark International, and of Helvetica itself.

This is a one time offer so please reblog and spread the word while there’s still time! Thank you!

Not Helvetica What gets me is why the cover is in Akzidenz-Grotesk (which I know NY used for years). Maybe another title would be better?

ethankociela: (Taken with picplz in Bloomfield, CT.) The inverted apostrophe This seems to be common—even London Fashion Week got it wrong in this most recent season. When you’re removing characters, it’s customary to use an apostrophe, not an open quotation mark.

ethankociela:

(Taken with picplz in Bloomfield, CT.)

The inverted apostrophe This seems to be common—even London Fashion Week got it wrong in this most recent season. When you’re removing characters, it’s customary to use an apostrophe, not an open quotation mark.

Shcool More a case of bad spelling or dyslexia than bad typography, but the Font Police would have tried to make a case. At Southern Guilford High School, North Carolina.

Shcool More a case of bad spelling or dyslexia than bad typography, but the Font Police would have tried to make a case. At Southern Guilford High School, North Carolina.

Get ofe From Redmond, Washington: what you should do when you run out of letters is order more letters. Ts do not look like Ls upside down. (From Bill Hill, uploaded to Facebook.)

Get ofe From Redmond, Washington: what you should do when you run out of letters is order more letters. Ts do not look like Ls upside down. (From Bill Hill, uploaded to Facebook.)

What is C02? There is a disturbing usage of C-zero-two to denote carbon dioxide, as shown by Reuter and the Los Angeles Times. How does the zero come in to carbon dioxide?

What is C02? There is a disturbing usage of C-zero-two to denote carbon dioxide, as shown by Reuter and the Los Angeles Times. How does the zero come in to carbon dioxide?


Posted at 7.37 am

Worst small caps on TV Sir Roger Moore’s name on US TV show The View. Fake small caps are bad enough, because the smaller letters look too light. Whomever was the typographer here decided to bold the large Arial caps—making the weight difference far worse.

Worst small caps on TV Sir Roger Moore’s name on US TV show The View. Fake small caps are bad enough, because the smaller letters look too light. Whomever was the typographer here decided to bold the large Arial caps—making the weight difference far worse.