In defense of the indefensible: Comic Sans. Nobody is entirely sure why the worldwide web suddenly came together and collectively decided that Comic Sans is the devil’s handwriting, but Mashable’s Christine Erickson says two graphic designers actually started a “Ban Comic Sans” campaign in 1999 in hopes of pointing out its amateurish look and the fact that it has no place in professional projects. Regardless of your personal opinions on the font, Comic Sans’ perceived ugliness is actually an asset. A study run by Princeton University psychologists found that, on average, students who received handouts in “ugly” or difficult to read fonts such as Comic Sans and Monotype Corsiva did better on their exams than those who received the same handouts in more aesthetically appealing fonts. Essentially, the uglier fonts required more focus from the students to be able to decipher the information, which resulted in them digesting and retaining the information better. “When you get something in these fonts — it’s ugly, difficult to read, and it attracts your attention. When you have your attention, then you actually start trying to understand what it says,” Tim Harford tells Business Insider (runtime 1:22).

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