Despite warnings that reading is a dying hobby, we are confronted with an astonishing number of written imperatives each day. We are told to pull or push doors, keep clear of fire exits, use caution with automatic doors, and Eat at Joe's.

But it isn't only what is being said, but how these messages are being delivered. Typography is not simply a frou-frou debate over aesthetics orchestrated by a hidden coterie of graphic-design nerds. You need only imagine a STOP sign that utilizes the heavy-metal typefaces favoured by bands Dokken or Krokus to realize that clear, clean and direct typography can save lives, or at the very least prevent drivers from prolonged bouts of confused squinting.

Now seems like a good time to ban comic sans, because the evidence makes it clear that typography is to blame for the recent unpleasantness.

The gun control debate is really a proxy for a more fundamental argument about serif versus sans-serif fonts.

The official typeface of the 20th century