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Lobster is a nice, versatile, _trendy_ typeface. What's wrong with that?

ericskiff 14y ago
Indeed - 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 ago
  Nice fonts should be used as often as possible. I would be happy if more people used Lobster, because it's nice!
ChuckMcM 14y ago
Nothing 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 ago
  I 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 ago
    Exactly - 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 ago
    I 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.
- wmil 14y ago
  I've seen formal government documents signed by ministers that were printed in Comic Sans. Sure, there's a place for Comic Sans, but it's used in so many places that it shouldn't be.

Indeed - 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 ago
Nice fonts should be used as often as possible. I would be happy if more people used Lobster, because it's nice!

ChuckMcM 14y ago

Nothing 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 ago
I 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 ago
  Exactly - 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 ago
  I 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.
wmil 14y ago
I've seen formal government documents signed by ministers that were printed in Comic Sans. Sure, there's a place for Comic Sans, but it's used in so many places that it shouldn't be.