How a Dog Talks: The Surprising Redemption of Comic Sans, with Terrance Weinzierl on Very Special Episodes

Terrance Weinzierl, Executive Creative Director at Monotype, recently joined hosts Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English on the podcast Very Special Episodes to talk about the history and legacy of one of the most misunderstood fonts: Comic Sans®.

A fun font with a design inspired by the writing in comic books, Comic Sans was originally designed by Vincent Connare for Microsoft in 1994. 

Terrance has a great appreciation for the typeface — when Comic Sans received an expansion and a refresh in 2011 with Comic Sans Pro, the two new italic and bold italic fonts in the family were drawn by Terrance. Terrance explains why Comic Sans may be so misunderstood.

“Fonts are like shoes. They have an aesthetic quality and they have utility,” Terrance said. And when you use the wrong font? It’s like wearing the wrong shoes at a wedding. 

But Comic Sans isn’t at fault for others’ font fashion faux pas. And for many, it has its utility, too.

Hear from Terrance and others to get a new perspective on the renowned typeface Comic Sans on Very Special Episodes.