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Dear Startups, Lobster is the new Comic Sans
- acoyfellow 14y agoI'm so glad someone pointed this out, but it's horribly ironic that the design of the blog and the header on there are god-awful.
- jack-r-abbit 14y agoWe will look back at our designs and sites years from now and go... "What happened to 90% of those sites?" :)
- jamesbritt 14y agohttp://www.killersites.com/killerSites/ http://www.killersites.com/killerSites/ And yet, in its time, this was the shit. Let's pour one out for the single-pixel GIF ...
- ajlburke 14y agoNot to mention 'blockquote' for horizontal padding and hundred other dirty little tricks. I couldn't help noticing, though, that the page loaded wicked fast. Can't say I would mind it if more of the web was still that efficient.
- megablast 14y agoIt is a lot nicer to read than comic sans.
- davecap1 14y agoLobster is a nice, versatile, _trendy_ typeface. What's wrong with that?
- ericskiff 14y agoIndeed - it is a very nice font. Unfortunately we're ALL using it in our projects, and it can make projects look lazy or "me too". It's sad, because it was a very nice font, but it's just overused.
- sp332 14y agoNice fonts should be used as often as possible. I would be happy if more people used Lobster, because it's nice!
- ChuckMcM 14y agoNothing at all, and there was nothing wrong with Comic Sans either. However it drives my friends who aspire to be designers into frothing fits of rage. It was explained to me this way, "Chuck lets say that bubble sorts and bloom filters were these versatile algorithms that worked really well on a few things, but a bunch of cut-n-paste programmers started using them for every program they wrote, hello world with a bubble sort and a bloom filter, a temperature monitor with a bubble sort and a bloom filter, a file system with a bubble sort and a bloom filter, wouldn't it drive you NUTS?" And I have to admit when I'm being honest with myself that folks who program 'cook book' style (which is to say they re-use code that kinda works and then bodge it into shape with a hack or two) do rub me the wrong way. Apparently this is how designers feel about things like Comic Sans and the four box table layout and the any number of things that people do to put together web sites that the creator enjoys, but are not actually designed.
- untog 14y agoI think the larger point there is "does any of that matter"? I don't think it does. It's possible to be a lazy programmer and a lazy designer and still be entirely successful. Understandable that it irritates programmers and designers, but it's a fact of life.
- njs12345 14y agoExactly - your customers might care if you use Comic Sans ('ew, why is this site so ugly?') but probably won't if you use Lobster or, say, Twitter Bootstrap well - even if you might be lazy.
- ericskiff 14y agoI completely agree :) There's a portion of this that is tongue in cheek, and I doubt we will actually change Framey (our own site which uses Lobster in the logo) at this point. Really, I just wanted to raise it in people's consciousness so it's a consideration when you're choosing the font for your next project. I think we're right at the threshold where powerusers (and tech blog authors) will start seeing Lobster and think "Ah. generic startup font. This was thrown together in a weekend." Sometimes that's just fine, but it's not always what you want your wordmark to communicate.
- tylermenezes 14y ago... said the company with the awful trying-to-be-hip design.
- tokenizer 14y agoLooks like the most simplest wordpress template to me. I'd appreciate any thought over no thought when it comes to design.
- ericskiff 14y agoHahaha, touche. The 5in5NYC design needs some serious work :) It's absolutely on my todo.
- alinajaf 14y agoWow, I'm no expert but you're right. That header image is rather fugly.
- sp332 14y agoI really don't understand this rant. Lobster is a title font, not a body font. Also unlike Comic Sans, it's actually pretty nice. The argument seems to be that Lobster is "overplayed" which is not only a snobbish, whiny thing to say but completely ignores the fact that Helvetica, Times New Roman, Arial, Georgia, etc. are used much more often. In fact you wouldn't notice Lobster at all except that it replaces the Arial you're used to seeing.
- ericskiff 14y agoOuch :) My point is largely that Lobster has a much more defined and recognizable look than classic "Sans" fonts like Arial and Helvetica and "Serif" fonts like Times and Georgia. The look is recognizable enough that it evokes comparison to other sites, which you may want to consider. It can also break down the fourth wall between your site and it's viewers if they recognize the font. They go "oh, that's lobster, one of google's free fonts" instead of "nice logo" which, again might not be what you're after.
- tptacek 14y agoProfessional designers can spot Gotham instantly, and will make fun of you for using it in a logotype. The relevance of that to a web app developer is zero.
- LoonyPandora 14y agoThe problem is its overuse, not it's qualities as a typeface. Comic Sans is not a bad typeface, it was merely overused and became a cliche. Lobster is well down that same path.
- gyardley 14y agoComic Sans is a terrible typeface. Frequency of use has nothing to do with it.
- gyardley 14y agoOy. Comic Sans isn't problematic because everyone uses it, it's problematic because it's a bad font. The kerning alone is reason enough not to use it. http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/why-you-hate-comic-sans/ http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/why-you-hate-comic-sans/ By this author's logic we should all stop using Helvetica, too - it's way too common.
- ericskiff 14y agoI agree that Lobster is a better font than comic sans, but both fonts have particular uses, and they both have a signature look that people recognize. Helvetica, in my opinion, is a fantastic utility. It gets out of the way, and only those who know to look for it notice it.
- jonnathanson 14y agoThe genius of Helvetica is that it's styled, but subtle. It "gets out of the way," but not entirely. The common assertion about Helvetica is that it's "clean" and unstylized. But actually, its cleanliness comes from the assertion of a certain style. On a semi-related note, I highly recommend the documentary "Helvetica," as well as the books about the development of the font. I'm not a font wonk by any means, but I do enjoy design. Anyone with even a passing interest in the subject will get a kick out of the film.
- cpeterso 14y agoTry Helvetica is a blog that alters photos of handmade signs from Brazil shops to use Helvetica. Some results are surprisingly good. http://tryhelvetica.tumblr.com/ http://tryhelvetica.tumblr.com/
- studiofellow 14y agoWhat's funny about this is the changes are not only the typeface. The creator is also correcting proximity, alignment, etc. I'd argue those factors make a much bigger difference in the quality of a design than typeface choice.
- jakejake 14y agoLobster may be an overused font of the moment, but it doesn't have the pedigree of Comic Sans. Not even close. Once Lobster has shown up consistently on PTA meeting itineraries, junior high pep-rally announcements and yard-sale flyers for about 15 years then maybe that font will be able to compare itself to Comic Sans.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- studiofellow 14y agoIf anything, Lobster is the new FF Dax. Dax and its siblings were the popular startup branding typefaces a few years back. And, Comic Sans is not a terrible typeface. It's just terrible for almost every application, except for comic book lettering. Still, I fail to see why this is a problem. Design trends happen.
- dandelany 14y agoLobster isn't bad, it's just overused at the moment. I might instead say that Lobster is the new Gotham, which has been overused as a header font since Obama used it in his 2008 presidential campaign (see http://flip-design.blogspot.com/2011/01/gotham-most-overused-best-font-in-world.html http://flip-design.blogspot.com/2011/01/gotham-most-overused...).
- mnicole 14y agoLobster is bad. Bello is bad. They're bad because they are ill-designed typefaces that leave much to be desired in the realm of readability and just the general aesthetic. They're display fonts that you can't compare to something like Gotham that can be used as display, headline or body. Saying Gotham is overused is like saying Arial, Tahoma, Verdana are overused for web. If it is clean, visible at a distance and generic looking enough not to be annoying, it's hard to say it is overused, much like Helvetica. Note: I say this as a designer that sees Lobster and Bello used (almost literally) hundreds of times a day in various capacities, a lot like Museo back in the day (yuck). Not sure if it is because they're Google fonts or if one startup used it and therefore every company had to use it, but in most situations they're the completely wrong type to use and when you see them, it's usually a sign of indolence/ignorance or lack of a real designer.
- studiofellow 14y agoWhat you're saying is that Lobster, Bello, and Museo offend your sensibilities and are used frequently. That doesn't mean they are of poor quality. Bad choices? Maybe. Bad typeface designs? No.
- mnicole 14y agoEverything's subjective to a point, but when it doesn't scale and people are using them for tiny app logos and subheadings, sensibility has nothing to do with it. Not to mention these fonts are generally used in conjunction with some pretty terrible layer or CSS effects.
- gringomorcego 14y agoI spent a minute before clicking that link trying to figure out wtf it meant. All I could think of was how serving lobster to your employees is considered the new comic sans. An interesting world to think about, if I may say so.
- cpeterso 14y agoComic Serif: http://idsgn.org/posts/comic-sans-comic-serif/ http://idsgn.org/posts/comic-sans-comic-serif/
- jQueryIsAwesome 14y agoNothing beats 'I hate comic sans': http://www.dafont.com/i-hate-comic-sans.font http://www.dafont.com/i-hate-comic-sans.font
- georgemcbay 14y agoI'll throw in my two cents on the "Lobster is the new... XYZ" by chucking out Papyrus. They are both highly-stylized fonts that are fine on their own merits but highly overrused within a certain niche (Papyrus for anything supposedly 'holistic', Lobster for anything supposedly 'startup'). Now we just need an "Avatar"-sized hugely commercial startup to use Lobster to finally run it into the ground.
- michaelbuckbee 14y agoYou mentioned Avatar, which chose Papyrus, narrowly missing Trajan the movie font - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t87QKdOJNv8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t87QKdOJNv8
- pikewood 14y agoI'd compare Lobster more to Papyrus (http://www.papyruswatch.com http://www.papyruswatch.com) and Copperplate (http://ihatecopperplate.blogspot.com/ http://ihatecopperplate.blogspot.com/) rather than Comic Sans.
- sageikosa 14y agoComic Sans makes me remember I have a slight astigmatism. Lobster makes me want to buy some soup, or order a la carte. Well, at least I don't cringe looking at it.
- georgieporgie 14y agoAre we in a Lobster bubble? ;-)
- Kluny 14y agoFuuuu now I'm seeing it everywhere. Thanks...
- kenrikm 14y agoLobster is a decent font however it's way, way overused. Just please for the love of god don't use it in your logo (Some YC companies have) at best it's going to look generic.
- pg_bot 14y agoPacifico is the new Lobster. http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/pacifico http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/pacifico
- adangit 14y agoTitle should read: Dear Codecademy, Lobster is the new Comic Sans.
- stevewillows 14y agoIn Vancouver (and most likely everywhere else) Bleeding Cowboy is smothering 'trendy' salons and other related signage. Maybe it's time we have graphic design as a licensed trade.