HOW does the above headline make you feel? Confused? After all, it’s not a typeface you’ll see in the Echo normally. Cheered by its informal appearance?

Or does it fill you with such incandescent rage that you feel obliged to start an internet campaign calling for its eradication?

Because that’s what’s happened to poor old Comic Sans, a relatively inoffensive font that probably lurks inside your own computer.

Campaigners have launched a website called bancomicsans.com which calls for the abolition of this jaunty typeface.

“We believe in the sanctity of typography and that the traditions and established standards of this craft should be upheld throughout all time,” they say in their online “manifesto”.

“From Gutenberg’s letterpress to the digital age, type in all forms is sacred and indispensable. Type is a voice; its very qualities and characteristics communicate to readers a meaning beyond mere syntax.”

All very noble. So what voice is Comic Sans?

“Clearly, Comic Sans as a voice conveys silliness, childish naivete, irreverence... It is analogous to showing up for a black tie event in a clown costume,” they continue.

And it’s hard to argue. Here at the Echo, when designing a new section or updating an existing one, choosing the font is one of the most important decisions that must be made.

The reader may not even, on a conscious level, notice.

But subconsciously, it makes a big difference. Imagine the above headline informing you of a national tragedy, or a heinous crime.

It’s too cheerful, too informal for that.

And yes, to borrow bancomicsans’s analogy, it’s a bit like a clown reading the evening news. While tooting a horn.

There are places for it, of course. It’s a staple of homemade cards, even if it is a bit of a lazy choice.

And it can convey a friendly note on advertising material – just take a look around your neighbourhood and see how many fetes, fairs and jumble sales use Comic Sans on their posters.

But what’s most important about all this kerfuffle is that it’s one in the eye for people who, when asked what typeface they want something in, say “it doesn’t matter”.

Because, quite clearly, it does.

You wouldn’t for example, send a loving romantic message in the typewriter-like Courier.

Nor would you apply for a new job using something as flowing and hard-to-read as Brushscript.

And if you wanted to strike a light, informal note on a poster, you wouldn’t want to use the rather militaristic Stencil font.

They all have their place, but misused they are indeed like reading something in a funny voice.

Meanwhile, I’m warming to the message behind bancomicsans. It is indeed, a ridiculous font for anything resembling serious use.

It’s altogether too airy, too weedy, too self-conciously rounded.

It’s the sort of font that has to cough to get your attention before telling you a mildly offensive joke that was never really funny in the first place.

The Echo typeface, by the way, at least for regular copy like this, is Nimrod. Named for the mighty hunter of Biblical tradition, it has gravitas, legibility, and most of all, it’s compact enough to get plenty of words in.

Which, when you witter on as much as I do, is a very good thing.