Bad Type Worldwide

It’s now been two months since I left Europe and I’m coming to grips with the fact that I’m not returning (at least not anytime in the near future). I suppose it’s probably also time to hang up this blog, or at least this iteration of it. Therefore, a final post devoted to some of the places I was able to visit over the past two years that will bring us full circle.

When I first arrived in Switzerland I wrote a couple posts detailing my dismay at finding the much maligned Comic Sans font at use in a country known for good design and typography. My silence on this front in the time since may give the inaccurate impression that my encounters with Comic Sans came to an end. Unfortunately, the truth is far more sinister. In almost every country I visited, I spotted examples of the dark side of globalization.

Here, a goodbye to Europe and a good riddance to awful typography:

Geneva, Switzerland


Vevey, Switzerland


Montreux, Switzerland

Note: Italicizing it doesn’t make things any better

Interlaken, Switzerland


Annecy, France


St. Gervais, France


Paris, France


Madrid, Spain


Barcelona, Spain

No, outlines don’t improve the appearance either

Dublin, Ireland

How can a brand as large as 7Up stoop to such lows? And Fido Dido still exists? If you say so, Dublin…

London, England


Budapest, Hungary



Bold, outlined, AND with a killer gradient in the background? Sign me up!

Prague, Czech Republic

Not only do we get Comic Sans (which appears to be squished), but there’s also a second horrifying typeface on display

Hamburg, Germany


Rome, Italy

There is just so much going on here that I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll just let the photo stand for itself.

Athens, Greece

This isn’t Comic Sans, and fortunately I didn’t see any Greek version of the font. However, they had plenty of their own display faces including this exciting example.

Zurich, Switzerland

I was pleased that Swiss design centers Basel and Zurich appeared Comic Sans-free. But I did find this stacked Hobo on display in the latter city.

Venice, Italy: The Final Eurotrip

The weekend before I departed Geneva (and, therefore, Europe) I finally made my way to Venice, a destination I had been wanting to get to since my arrival two years prior. The beauty of the city certainly lives up to the hype, though the prices of everything there do as well. I arrived on a Sunday afternoon and departed on Tuesday afternoon, giving me plenty of time to explore, visit some nice art museums and have a final taste of authentic Italian food. What a place.

Worth a few thousand words:


The Grand Canal


There were plenty of thunderstorms and plenty of sunshine during my visit. The times when both converged made for some amazing lighting.


They love their St. Mark in Venice. His winged lion is all over the place, including the Basilica.


Carnival masks are all over the gift shops of the city.






the grand staircase at the Doge’s Palace


the towers of the Basilica







Arrivederci Italia!

Brussels, Belgium

Back at the beginning of July, I decided to spend a few days in Brussels since I had already planned to attend part of the Rock Werchter festival in Belgium. It was one of my final European mini-vacations and I definitely want to return at some point to do a cross-country brewery tour.

I split my time in the city between sight-seeing and volunteering since some friends of friends were hosting a big “Serve The City” event that week. I had the opportunity to help paint at a refugee center and a children’s daycare. Despite the hard work, it was great to give back and meet some other people while in the city.

Unfortunately, on my first day in town, I got a call from my Californian friend Chris (who had interned in Geneva last summer). He and three friends from home were backpacking through Europe after graduating this year, and I was actually expecting to see them in Switzerland over the weekend when they’d be crashing at my place. However, while in Bruges Chris had his passport, Eurail pass and credit cards stolen so they returned to Brussels to get a new passport at the American embassy. Of course, this meant they needed a place to stay in Brussels and all the hostels were booked due to Serve the City. I mentioned the guys’ plight to the head of this service initiative and in a wonderful example of Christian fellowship, we were able to find volunteers to house the guys for that night which was really cool (plus I got to see them a few days early). Fortunately, the rest of my time in Brussels went smoothly and Chris and the guys were still able to make it to Geneva in time for the 4th of July.

All that being said, how about some photos of Brussels?






Comics are known as “BD” in French-speaking countries and are really popular in Belgium which gave birth to the Smurfs, Marsupialami and Tin Tin among others. I saw several buildings featuring the characters in wall paintings like this one.


Quite possibly the city’s most famous landmark, the Manneken Pis, which is in fact a child pissing.






I found it interesting that graffiti on public monuments is left standing. In Switzerland, this would be gone overnight.


From the city's great art museum: a Hieronymus Bosch detail. What a crazy, crazy man.


The Death of Marat. Even more amazing in real life than in art history class. Go figure.


Inside the brewing museum. It really wasn't much more than a video, but it was a comprehensive video and came with a free pint, so well worth it.


And finally, a gorgeous art nouveau building.

Barcelona, Spain

It’s now been almost two full months(!) since my parents and I ventured to Barcelona following their stay in Switzerland. In total, we spent about three days there as a family before they departed on a Mediterranean cruise with some of their friends and I joined friends of my own for the weekend.

All told, I enjoyed Barcelona quite a bit, but I’m glad I had previously been to Madrid because it doesn’t feel distinctly Spanish in the same way that the capital does. Barca is a much more international city of the ilk of New York, Paris or London. However, it does have a lot going for it beginning and ending with the architecture of Antonio Gaudi. A major presence in the city, his version of Art Nouveau uses undulating organic forms to evoke various natural elements. Underlying steel skeletons allowed his genius to take almost any form he desired on the buildings’ surfaces.

While in town, we did a lot including a Gaudi tour, the Picasso museum (which featured a great temporary exhibit of artists riffing on Velazquez’s Las Meninas), a nighttime bus tour, a trip outside the city to the spiritual center Montserrat, and time browsing around Las Ramblas and the general vicinity of our hotel. When I joined Kara and her boyfriend Sergio for the weekend we took a bike tour which took us to the beach and also climbed up to the center of the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Five days is a lot of time and I have a lot of photos, but in the interest of brevity (and in an attempt to try and get myself update sometime soon) I’m just going to post a few of my favorites here.


Joan Miro mosaic on Las Ramblas


Christopher Columbus column


an underpass at Gaudi’s Parc Guell, originally conceived as a housing development


one of the city’s unofficial symbols is this lizard (part of a fountain) at the park


proving that fact, here’s a street performer dressed as that lizard




detail from the newly completed Passion side of the Sagrada Familia church which Gaudi devoted the end of his life to (this facade was done by Josep Subirachs


nighttime detail of his Casa Batlló


Montserrat


the famous Black Madonna


a fence on the grounds which is almost certain supposed to evoke the crown of thorns




The “Magic Fountain” near the Olympic Village. Quite a spectacle (though not quite as cool as the Belagio in Vegas)


Kara trying a milkshake at a chocolate museum we toured


Olympic Stadium


Kara and me in front of Barca’s arc de triomph on our bike tour


Finally, this ad was everywhere the whole time we were there, so Sergio and I had to get our picture with the lovely Vanesa (apparently a Spanish soap star)