Daily Trojan Switches to Comic Sans
by Staff
Photo editing by Jack Koppa
In its long history as the University of Southern California’s newspaper of record, much has changed at the Daily Trojan, but its century-old Times New Roman font has not.
Now, USC’s campus newspaper is switching things up. Starting Monday, all future editions of the Daily Trojan will be printed in Comic Sans. Editors hope that the rounded, unpretentious, easy-to-read font will better draw readers’ eyes to headline stories.
Last week, the Daily Trojan ran the headline “Speaker to Speak at Speaking Event.” But attendance at the event was low, leading the paper’s management to conclude that they needed to do something new to draw attention to their stories.
After considering many options, including Wingdings II, Apple Chancery, and Herculanum, the design committee concluded that Comic Sans best embodied the defining values of the Daily Trojan.
The reformatting, spokespeople say, will make the newspaper more accessible to the Daily Trojan’starget demographic and reading proficiency.
Periods and commas will also be enlarged from 12 point to 14 point in a bid to make articles appear longer.
“We think that the change in font will encourage students to read more about the exciting things that go on on campus,” said newly elected Editor-in-Chief Lars Helvetica. “We’ve already slated some great articles for next week to be featured in Comic Sans. Look out for an exclusive expose called ‘Football Players Score Points.’”
“With the resources from our new, cutting-edge home in the Wallis Annenberg Hall, we were able to devote weeks of targeted research into the most cutting-edge fonts of today’s press,” he continued, “With the announcement of Comic Sans as our official font, The Daily Trojan is proud to be at the very forefront of modern journalism.”