My head drops in shame every time I get an email from my wife, every time I look at the life choice my wife has made, every time I think of every other classy font she could have composed her email to me in. Of all the fonts in the world why did she have to choose Comic Sans. As a designer I have to explain this evil choice to her time and time again and the shame it brings me. She might as well root for the Steelers or the the “team up north” while she is at it.

I have spent my career carefully selecting fonts from the thousands that exist for a logo, a brochure, a sign, a campaign and I have seen so many classy, clean, elegant fonts….why Comic Sans. My wife likes to tease me and even push my buttons which is one of the little things I love about her, but when is it too much. She has sat behind me as I pull late night design sessions in the home office and said “you know…Comic Sans would look awesome there”…you can only imagine my pain.

I joke when I say this but it really does highlight the importance of a great font and clicking through all of the fonts in your toolbox to find that one or two that make a good design great. Deciding whether a serif or sans serif font work best and at what size you set your headline, sub head and paragraph copy. Do you adjust the kerning a little or give it a little air? What color choices help sell the font with your design? All choices and decisions I make or enforce as a brand guideline is developed or enforced.

When I started designing almost 20 years ago I thought about marker rendering, airbrush technique, paints, colors, etc… and thought that was what art and design were. I take as much joy and get the same creative spark when I am working the process of font selection and I certainly understand and appreciate its importance.

As far as my wife goes…I am still waiting for a crack in that Comic Sans defense. The next time we renew our vows I might need to sneak a font selection vow in there. How can my best friend, mother of my four kids and life partner choose Comic Sans…I guess no one is perfect.