The triumphant advance of the personal computer, which entered households in the western world at an unprecedented speed in the mid-1990s, is mostly based on two aspects: Virtualisation of reality and global networking. However, the fact that the PC has also brought with it a multiplication of forms and formats of expression is an aspect that is sometimes neglected.

In the course of digitalisation ¹ Comic Sans was introduced into many households in the summer of 1995 as a pre-installed font in the Windows 95 operating system and has been an integral part of everyday design ever since. After its introduction, it quickly became widespread, but was later viewed with disdain. More recently, however, Comic Sans has experienced a renewed boom, which has a lot to do with the current revival at the turn of the millennium in many areas of (youth) culture. This raises personal questions about characterisation and taste formation: What is my concept of design? How and against what background do I position myself as a designer? And how do external circumstances, such as being the first generation to grow up with digital media, influence my approach to design?

This bachelor's thesis focuses on the attempt to categorize Comic Sans historically and in terms of design, which must also mean taking it seriously as a typeface that has a significant influence on our everyday lives. Using different techniques and with the help of Helvetica as a formal counterpart, the characteristics of Comic Sans will be analyzed. The analysis leads to the design of a new font: Dopamine is a variable (iron-on bead) grid font that is currently still in development and will soon be available as an open-source font.