From the Desk of Bozo T. Clown

I want you to imagine two scenarios with me as we begin today. 

Scenario 1: you eat your coworker's lunch. It was in the refrigerator and clearly marked, but you ate it anyway. The next day your coworker walks from person to person in your workplace, asking each person to refrain from eating other's lunches in the future. Strangely enough, they do so while wearing a clown suit. 

Scenario 2: your son's friend's dad knocks at your front door. He is going around the neighborhood, inviting children to his son's sixth birthday party. Being already in the spirit of the upcoming event, he does so wearing a clown suit. 

Obviously, these two situations are very different. As a matter of fact, the only thing they really have in common is an individual communicating while wearing a clown suit. I now want you to re-imagine both scenarios, except the communication takes place in a written (whether digital or physical) form. And the clown suit? Comic Sans. 

Don't get me wrong: your choice of words is vital. This being said, your choice of font makes a statement about you and your attitude*. Courier, for example, shows you as staunch and professional**, while Comic Sans is light-hearted and does not take the situation too seriously. Ariel, Helvetica, and Times New Roman are great fonts for every day use, while Papyrus is great if you want to let everyone know that you have strikingly bad taste. Whether consciously or subconsciously, our choice of fonts affects our message*;***. 

Looking first at scenario 2, we see what promises to be an awesome sixth birthday party. Everyone is already having fun, and it's only the invitation stage. There is a bounce house and the cake is the best you've ever tasted. The only reason you leave the petting zoo is because the magician is about to begin his performance. Even Big Bird and Cookie Monster**** have replied "Maybe attending" to the Facebook event. 

On the other hand, we have scenario 1. Our coworker is obviously not actually upset. This is more in line with a Monty Python sketch: you eat your coworker's ham sandwich, so she hits you with a ham. Office security shows up. "Office security of the yard?" They drag you both away, thus ending the sketch. While this is perhaps an exaggeration, you see my point. 

Obviously scenario 1 achieved the desired result, while scenario 2 achieved "something completely different." When typing, we need to be ever mindful of these decisions. They affect communication more than we could ever know, sending messages far beyond what we may intend, writing what will be read between the lines. As a matter of fact, there's even an I'm-too-drunk-to-type-correctly font: Wingdings. 

*This same statement goes for your choice of color and the use of capital letters, though that is not the issue at hand. 
**Alternately, Courier could mean that you are a college student struggling to write the last two pages of a twenty page term paper. 
***That's right - footnote reuse. It's called efficiency. 
****I accidentally typed Cookie Mobster. That completely changes the character. 

I want you to imagine two scenarios with me as we begin today. 

Scenario 1: you eat your coworker's lunch. It was in the refrigerator and clearly marked, but you ate it anyway. The next day your coworker walks from person to person in your workplace, asking each person to refrain from eating other's lunches in the future. Strangely enough, they do so while wearing a clown suit. 

Scenario 2: your son's friend's dad knocks at your front door. He is going around the neighborhood, inviting children to his son's sixth birthday party. Being already in the spirit of the upcoming event, he does so wearing a clown suit. 

Obviously, these two situations are very different. As a matter of fact, the only thing they really have in common is an individual communicating while wearing a clown suit. I now want you to re-imagine both scenarios, except the communication takes place in a written (whether digital or physical) form. And the clown suit? Comic Sans. 

Don't get me wrong: your choice of words is vital. This being said, your choice of font makes a statement about you and your attitude*. Courier, for example, shows you as staunch and professional**, while Comic Sans is light-hearted and does not take the situation too seriously. Ariel, Helvetica, and Times New Roman are great fonts for every day use, while Papyrus is great if you want to let everyone know that you have strikingly bad taste. Whether consciously or subconsciously, our choice of fonts affects our message*;***. 

Looking first at scenario 2, we see what promises to be an awesome sixth birthday party. Everyone is already having fun, and it's only the invitation stage. There is a bounce house and the cake is the best you've ever tasted. The only reason you leave the petting zoo is because the magician is about to begin his performance. Even Big Bird and Cookie Monster**** have replied "Maybe attending" to the Facebook event. 

On the other hand, we have scenario 1. Our coworker is obviously not actually upset. This is more in line with a Monty Python sketch: you eat your coworker's ham sandwich, so she hits you with a ham. Office security shows up. "Office security of the yard?" They drag you both away, thus ending the sketch. While this is perhaps an exaggeration, you see my point. 

Obviously scenario 1 achieved the desired result, while scenario 2 achieved "something completely different." When typing, we need to be ever mindful of these decisions. They affect communication more than we could ever know, sending messages far beyond what we may intend, writing what will be read between the lines. As a matter of fact, there's even an I'm-too-drunk-to-type-correctly font: Wingdings. 

*This same statement goes for your choice of color and the use of capital letters, though that is not the issue at hand. 
**Alternately, Courier could mean that you are a college student struggling to write the last two pages of a twenty page term paper. 
***That's right - footnote reuse. It's called efficiency. 
****I accidentally typed Cookie Mobster. That completely changes the character. 

From the Desk of Bozo T. Clown