While Comic Sans gets a lot of haters, over the weekend it was another font – Papyrus – taking the heat.
Ryan Gosling’s Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch of the same name took the weekend by storm, and the man who created the typeface has now responded to it.
First of all, here’s the skit.
“He just highlighted Avatar, he clicked the dropdown menu and he just randomly selected Papyrus,” says a lamenting Gosling, taking aim at James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster Avatar. “He got away with it. This man, this professional graphic designer.
“Was it laziness, was it cruelty?”
#Papyrus #SNLPremiere pic.twitter.com/LfXsMH6U9Z
— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) October 1, 2017
That hilariously, wonderfully random video already has over two and a half million views on the comedy show’s YouTube channel – and now graphic designer Chris Costello, creator of the original Papyrus typeface, has shared his thoughts.
“I took a look at it and me and my wife were like cracking up, I mean we couldn’t stop laughing. It was one of the best things I’ve seen,” Costello told CBS News.
I have never identified with anything as much as this #SNL sketch where Ryan Gosling has a meltdown over Avatar’s use of Papyrus. pic.twitter.com/yzsiuK3soh
— Devan Coggan (@devancoggan) October 1, 2017
Costello designed the font, inspired, he said, by Egypt and the Middle East when he was 23, before selling the font for $750 (£566) and “very low” royalties. It is now used on Apple and Microsoft computers.
“It ended up being a default font set on every computer since 2000,” said Costello. “It was not my intent to be used for everything – it’s way overused.”
How to turn you corporate brand into 7th grade history project on Egypt. #SNLPremiere #Papyrus pic.twitter.com/8XPK3h3FgV
— Olivia Griggs 🌈 (@Olivia_Griggs) October 1, 2017
#SNLPremiere #snl Papyrus/Avatar SNL sketch made this graphic design prof actually laugh out loud. The Comic Sans typeface at the end was the cherry on top.
— David Koeth (@davidkoeth) October 1, 2017
Despite the animosity towards Papyrus, Costello said he believes it’s “a well-designed and well-thought out” font.
It seems some people still need some persuading though.
I've never related more to an #SNL sketch than I do to this AVATAR Papyrus one. I once refused to go into a restaurant cause of its font.
— Dave Quinn (@NineDaves) October 1, 2017
“He just randomly selected Papyrus — like a thoughtless child.” #SNL and Gosling are now a hero to every graphic designer against #Avatar.
— Bill Kuchman (@billkuchman) October 1, 2017
Director Cameron is actually planning not just a sequel but a series of four more Avatar films, with release dates stretching from 2020 to 2025.
Let’s hope Ryan Gosling doesn’t find out…