What happened to Courier font?

Many fundraising experts (John Lepp, for one) swear by the wonderful font Courier for use in direct mail.

I used to.

A few years ago, I ran a couple of tests that put letters in Courier against letters set in Times. It was a “tie” every time. Both fonts did equally well.

So I started using both fonts. Depending on the situation.

And then something terrible happened to Courier.

Courier New happened. It became a default font with Microsoft operating systems. And like a virus, it has spread from there. You can’t get away from it. If you try to use Courier, the system will probably turn it into Courier New.

It’s a lousy font.

The main problem: letters are spidery-thin, hard to read.

They are like that for a silly reason: the font designers messed up. They created the new font based on the old “golf ball” of the IBM Selectric typewriter. (Remember those?) They digitized direct from the ball. They didn’t account for the weight added by the typewriter’s ink ribbon. That’s why the letters are so thin.

But nobody ever corrected the mistake. So we have a lousy font that is effectively the default version of Courier.

That’s why I rarely use Courier. And never in digital contexts. It’s going to be hard to read on most screens.

There’s a another courier font called Courier Prime. It’s “improved” (over the original) in ways only font nerds like John Lepp might notice. It’s a bit more readable. If you have control of your printing, it’s a good alternative.

Courier is dead. Long live courier!