Attack of the Papyrus

Arts & Crafts = Papyrus

2011-05-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

Especially when the author has a Japanese name

Papyrus = Asian

2011-05-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

As do cherry blossoms, evidently

Papyrus pies

2011-04-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

=all natural and delicious

John Adams Born in Egypt

2011-04-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

I think that's the gist of this ad, anyway. I can't tell though, I got distracted from the content for some reason.

Papyrus also means trendy...?

2011-03-14T09:44:00.001-07:00

This unfortunate font pairing makes me think that the designer was doing okay, until the boss came along and said, "Looks good, but lets make the brand stand out by putting it into Papyrus." Or similar.

This, the generic paper towel brand, evidently thought it would look cool if "Latte" was in all caps Papyrus. Very hip. Speaking of hip...

Nothing says trendy like "Soho Lounge" in Papyrus - especially with that jagged line below the curved words. Hot.

Papyrus Means Natural, Eco-Friendly, Healthy, etc.

2011-03-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

All-natural cold medicine...

All-natural pet smell removal - with papyrus condensed and stretched - lovely.

All-natural, homemade, soup - from the Chicago Bistro, no less!

All-natural, organic pasta

All-natural, garlic stuff. The title of the brand's website is "Healthy Living & Natural Remedies with Garlic! - The Garlic Lady"

Nothing like all-natural, Asian energy.

Or all-natural, eco-friendly, smelly candles.
Kids, the lesson here is that all-natural means you have to use a font designed in 1982 to look like it was written on Papyrus. If you use one those new-fangled fonts invented later you're selling your audience short by not being natural.

The Oatmeal + Papyrus =

2011-03-11T16:34:00.001-08:00

awesome

Check out the original post here: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/restaurant_website

Tao of Bad Design

2011-03-05T22:15:00.000-08:00

Found in the Northgate Barnes & Noble

The Most Amazing Logo in the World

2011-03-04T10:50:00.001-08:00

Not only Papyrus, EagleRidge is supposed to be spelled without a space.

Their website is even better:

Malabar in the U-District

2010-10-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

I've walked by Malabar many, many times without a camera, but when I walked by the other day, it was gone.

Luckily, Google Maps doesn't update its Street View as often as changes take place in real life, so I captured the image online.

I guess it closed back in April.

Blog in Japan

2010-10-06T08:34:00.000-07:00

I was looking for an image of a Korean protest for work the other day, and Google images took me to the blog below:

The blogger lives in Japan, so I imagine that the font choice is supposed to be "Asian" in nature.

Other than the unfortunate header, he seems to be a pretty cool guy, otherwise, so give it a read.

Organic Quaker Oatmeal

2010-10-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

Because Papyrus means natural.

Screenshot from Amazon

St. Jude

2010-10-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

Evidently St. Jude is the saint of hopeless or impossible causes. People like to pray to him with money problems, I guess. Fitting, I suppose, as successfully weaning the world off of Papyrus is probably hopeless.

Thanks to Rachel for sending this image.

Garden Site

2010-09-22T09:18:00.001-07:00

This site was another user's website from a social network on writing. Browsers support Papyrus now? How unfortunate.

Kyoto Art and Antiques

2010-09-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

The postcard below arrived in the mail from Kyoto Art & Antiques for a colleague. Their website has no Papyrus, so hopefully the postcard is a remnant of an unfortunate era of font choices.

God Loves Papyrus

2010-09-14T14:32:00.001-07:00

According to the Tea Party, at least.

Screenshot from a New Left Media video.

Postsecret Papyrus

2010-09-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

More Minnesota (via Hollywood)

2010-09-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

The opening credits for the film, New in Town:

The movie poster has no Papyrus on it, and the content of the film doesn't inspire visions of Asia or nature or new age-y crap, so it actually makes me wonder who decides on the things like the font for opening credits.

Was this some grand plan by the movie director/producer? Or did Intern # 3 get stuck typing up the credits and say, "Oh, this font is pretty, I'll use this one!"

And then no one noticed along the entire way because film producers are too important to consider things like fonts that make the entire movie look horrible before it's even started.

That must be it.

Minnesota, continued

2010-09-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'll be caught up on MN Papyrus after this post. Thanks again to Rachel for helping me out by sending these!

1-2. From the Harry and David at the Mall of America

3. Also Mall of America - weight loss kiosk
4. MoA jewelry
5. More MoA jewelry
6. Breafast Club
7. Summer schedule for student assistants at a MN college. Nick seems particularly fond of Papyrus.
8. America's Harvest
9. You can't really see this but it's Manhattan Bistro in Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

Email Signatures

2010-09-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

Papyrus in email signatures seems to be pretty popular still. Three below:

1. From my friend Rachel. The sender's name was also in Papyrus in the same blue as the quote. The font size was larger than anything else in the email.
2. From my friend Rachel. Only the signature was in Papyrus
3. From a school administrator in Spokane. The funny thing about converting bold Papyrus to PDF is that it appears as a double image.

Minnesota = Papyrus Heaven?

2010-09-13T15:35:00.001-07:00

My friend Rachel has been scouting out the Papyrus in MN for me. I've barely posted any, so here's an attempt to get caught up!

Nothing more holistic than Papyrus and moms...

The sign (in the middle) is pretty hard to read, but it says "Stoneleigh" in Papyrus.

Here's a screenshot of the website. Not just Papyrus. Embossed Papyrus. Priceless.

I have no idea what this says. It was a framed image on the wall. But whatever it is, it's bright, metallic Papyrus with star-looking things embellishing the design. Amazing!

Beeline Consignment Store in Minnetonka, MN

Their website only has Papyrus at the bottom, but here it is:

More MN to come...

Papyrus on your keychain (in Missoula)

2010-09-13T15:29:00.001-07:00

My friend Bobby sent the two images below to me a while back. How would you like to see Papyrus everyday when you go home? Heaven, right?

Ecard Papyrus

2010-09-13T15:22:00.001-07:00

It's not just in your Hallmark store anymore.
My partner received this e-card for her birthday from my parents.

Ten Online Ads

2010-09-12T23:07:00.001-07:00

A lot of online ads seem to be covered in Papyrus.

1. Seen on Goodreads

2. Seen on Seattle Times
3. Seen on the Colbert Report
4-8. The Stranger blog

9. The Hunger Site
10. BBC News - in two spots!

Restaurants!

2010-09-12T22:44:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's been a while. I have a huge folder of images sitting on my desktop, more in my email, and even more on my cell phone.

Here are a few to catch up - restaurant websites!

1. Art of the Table (Wallingford)
I haven't been here but have heard great things. They unfortunately thought Papyrus went well with their otherwise pretty cool website.

2. Backdoor Kitchen (Friday Harbor, WA)
This place was all about the Papyrus. Signage, menus, bar napkins, you name it.
3. Salvadorean Bakery (West Seattle)
Haven't been here but heard amazing things, so I was checking out the website, which is pretty Papyrus-ful.
4. Lombardi's Pizza (NYC)
Don't know if you can see it, but the left menu is in Papyrus in all caps. Nowhere else on the website, which makes you wonder where they went wrong. I stumbled onto this site by accident while looking for the Italian restaurant Lombardi's in Ballard. (The latter favor Trajan Pro in their signage.)

5. Wild Ginger (Seattle)
I've heard good things about this restaurant but have never been. It's a pity that such a beautiful website is covered in Papyrus.

More to come...

Pasta TV Show

2010-05-16T21:35:00.001-07:00

I've been sick all weekend, so instead of enjoying the absolutely gorgeous weather, I've been stuck inside. As a result, I discovered that several Korean TV shows are on hulu.com, including a show called Pasta.

I've been watching it because the concept sounds pretty similar to a show called Coffee Prince, which I wrote about for one of my papers in grad school.

The opening credits of Pasta include the word, "pasta" in both Korean and in - you guessed it - Papyrus:
If you watch the opening credits, after the scrawled Korean script and the papyrus-ified "pasta" scroll by, the rest of the random text floating around is in a geometric sans serif font, so there seems to be no apparent reason that Papyrus was used. It's particularly strange since the Korean script is obviously supposed to look handwritten, and papyrus font certainly does not. The show's official website also uses the font.

Lack of Funding = Bad Design?

2010-02-17T09:58:00.000-08:00

Should I even bother apologizing for not posting anymore? You know it's going to happen without fail on a regular basis.

Once again doing research for work, I came across this website:
There are a couple of awesome things about this school district's logo:

There's an amazing gradient on the apple that makes the 'E' in Education nearly illegible.
The underline under Educational is "papyrus"-ified - is that standard for the font?

Fantastic. The particularly sad part of this is that the website looks half-way decent for a K-12 site, as though the district actually employs someone with some sort of design skills, maybe.

A lot of the signage I see with Papyrus on it comes from schools, colleges, universities, and nonprofits - i.e. organizations with no money - which means that they're designing in-house to the best of their ability while trying to do the other 5,000 things falling under their job umbrella on way too little pay.

Coming from the same field, I can completely empathize. The font you're using is the last thing on your mind when you're trying to convince the state legislature that, really, they do need to keep your program funded, or scrambling to write a grant that will either end in you keeping your job and being able to help lots of people or you living on the street and helping no people at all.

It really sucks. I know.

BUT STOP USING PAPYRUS.

Thanks, Papyrus!

2009-12-31T17:09:00.000-08:00

Sorry, way behind again.

My sister... (sister!) sent me a thank you note for Christmas in Papyrus:

I don't think she actually knows how I feel about the font, so this wasn't a joke...

Gay Rights Image

2009-10-24T13:00:00.001-07:00

I was doing research for work again and came across this ad:Obviously, this web hasn't been updated in a while, as I believe this is a pre-Prop 8 ad.

Assignments in Papyrus

2009-10-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

This was an assignment submitted entirely in Papyrus font. Sad.

Floating Leaves Tea

2009-10-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to get a better photo of this signboard for months and have never had a camera ready.
The store has pretty good reviews, even if they don't list Korea among the countries from where they get their tea.

Dova Silks

2009-10-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

We went to Vashon Island with some friends last weekend and saw a sign for this store as we were driving down the main street:To be fair, their website does not have Papyrus on it.

Red Truck Salon

2009-10-18T20:48:00.001-07:00

We were taking a detour through Mt. Vernon to escape the heavy traffic on I-5 earlier this summer, and came across this sign:

Oh, Jesus Freaks

2009-10-16T14:55:00.001-07:00

This is a panel from the Creation Museum:
Oh, uneducated people who do not understand anything, I cannot expect you to choose fonts any more intelligently than you chose your beliefs, so I have no comment on this one.

... and my desktop is clear of Papyrus-related items.

Postsecret Papyrus

2009-10-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

This was a Postsecret a few weeks back.
I have no comment on this one.

Eureka

2009-10-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago we watched an episode of Eureka online. The credits are in Papyrus:

Soles4Souls

2009-10-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

I'm sure Soles4Souls is a fine nonprofit, even if they have a dorky name.
But they need to choose a new font.

I also saw this ad for them online (which is why I know about them):

PJALS

2009-10-16T14:40:00.001-07:00

I have no recollection of when I ran into this site, probably while web editing or something:

Two Random Sites

2009-10-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

I ran into both of these Papyruses (Papyri?) by accident - the first is an announcement of a new book, and the second is a coloring book website for adults (someone in my house likes to color, and it's not me or my dog...)

Oh, silliness.

Another Website at Work

2009-10-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

I was doing web editing at work and came across this site:
It's doubly amazing because the green and black never end - they just keep going and going and going... which I guess is okay, but I personally kinda hate it.

And if they're "high tech" enough for someone to be able to figure out how to get the photos to rotate when you refresh the site, you'd think they'd be high tech enough to know that Papyrus sucks.

Horrible Ad

2009-10-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

So everyone's seen those stupid ads about losing 50 in 30 days or getting ripped in 30 days, right? Horrible.

Especially when they're in Papyrus:
This one is courtesy of Seattlepi.com.

Aerial Paragliding

2009-10-16T14:25:00.001-07:00

I saw this company as a sticker on someone's car and didn't have a camera ready, so I grabbed a screenshot of their website:

David Horsey Comic

2009-10-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

David Horsey used Papyrus in this comic:An unfortunate use

Been Awhile...

2009-10-16T14:17:00.001-07:00

I literally have hundreds of images of Papyrus font scattered around in my email, on my desktop, on my cell phone, on one or both of my cameras, in hard copy, etc. etc.

I saw this while I was at work, kinda ruins the photo, right? From this site.

Papyrus Comics

2009-05-30T22:30:00.001-07:00

Two separate friends who don't know each other sent this to me this week:From http://www.xkcd.com/

More Papyrus Websites

2009-05-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

I saw three more websites today with papyrus, two from the UW:

Ironically, the English Department is using Papyrus to advertise the convocation. My department sent out invitations to its "VIPs" in Papyrus font. I suppose I should be grateful that we didn't put it on the web, at least.
This last one is random.

The "Asian"-ness of Papyrus

2009-05-29T22:57:00.000-07:00

Seriously, guys, Papyrus was not designed to be an Asian font.
1. Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan
2. East Asia Center, University of California, Santa Barbara
3. Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, Ohio State University
4. Japan Information & Culture Center, Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC
5. University of Washington Professor Marie AnchordoguyFor the record, I've only heard great things about the professor above.

The Scoop's Got the Scoop... or something

2009-05-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

We went to The Scoop at Walter's Cafe in Ballard one night (and ended up not getting anything because we never have cash and they don't take cards...), and while we were figuring out that they didn't take cards, I saw four Papyrus business cards/ads on the wall within about six inches of one another:

Websites that are Papyrus-ful

2009-05-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I'm trying to do multiple images in single posts because I'm so far behind. I ran into these doing work.

First, dish-it-up.com: I'm just happy they hyphenated their name.

Second, some random person's website who was not the person I was looking for:Third, a professor's website at the UW:And finally, the background of an html-formatted email from UC-Berkeley's Korea institute. Okay, first of all, who's idea was it to make the Korean peninsula part of the K? It's not like Korea has enough of an inferiority complex as it is. "Our peninsula looks like a tiger." And then Japan says, "No, your peninsula is shaped like a rabbit." And now freaking Berkeley comes along and says, "Actually, much lamer than that. Your peninsula only looks like half of a letter." Lame. Not original. Lame.

Food Brands Love Papyrus

2009-05-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

Long, long time, I know.

Here are three food items that were taken with my cell phone at separate locations. 1) A honey packet from Starbuck's. 2) A wrap by Moveable Feast (I think) 3) Candy from See's

Trader Joe's Still Loves is Obsessed with Papyrus

2009-05-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

I just realize I never posted a bunch of Trader Joe's pics:

The last thing was so busy that you can barely read the container, so I'm posting the Trader Joe's explanation below, as well:

Whole Foods Papyrus

2009-05-04T07:23:00.001-07:00

I'm surprised I haven't found more Papyrus font at Whole foods, but maybe they have awesome graphic designers, which is why their food is so expensive.
After taking the image below, I wasn't actually sure if it was Papyrus because the cellphone shot was so blurry, but after visiting their website, I know that it was.

The best part about their website is the line down the middle of their background where it begins to repeat itself again.

More U Bookstore Papyrus

2009-05-04T07:20:00.001-07:00

There were also two other instances of Papyrus in the art section of the U Bookstore:

Bookbinders Love Papyrus (at the U Bookstore)

2009-05-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

We went to the University Bookstore this weekend to get a portfolio (I have a portfolio!), and I came across and entire display of Papyrus from one company. Of course, I only had my cell phone:

No pictures of Papyrus on the company's website, however.

Courtesy of FailBlog

2009-05-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

Just saw the following on FailBlog:That's a double fail in my book.

Kildare's is in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and their entire website is in Papyrus.

Drowning in Papyrus

2009-04-26T21:11:00.001-07:00

I have seen way too much Papyrus lately and have a stack of images sitting on my desktop, waiting to be posted. Apologies for the delay in posting and I'll try to get back to it soon.

I'll leave you with a webcomic, xkcd, that a friend sent me the link to:See the comic online here.

Ballard Loves Papyrus (and Massage)

2009-04-18T19:22:00.001-07:00

Below are three ads that were in The Ballard Journal (the first two) and Ballard/Crown Hill Community Shopper (the last one).

The first two are for Custom Painting and Design and Emerald Vine Massage Well, I guess Emerald Vine Massage is technically in Fremont.The last ad is for Ballard Therapeutic Massage, which has good reviews but no website.
I'm going to have to go back and count the number of Ballard Papyrus signs I've seen, because it's getting ridiculous. There's one I haven't even posted, yet.

Maybe I should also count the number of massage studios in Ballard.

Red-Rose Chiropractic Clinic

2009-04-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

I saw this clinic while driving back to Seattle today. I don't know how often I'll be in Kirkland, so I pulled the following image off of their website:A couple of things make this awesome.

They used Papyrus.
They hyphenated "red" and "rose"
Their website cuts off half of their logo

Amazing. I'm going to bet on this being done in-house.

Phuket Thai

2009-04-18T09:50:00.001-07:00

Phuket Thai doesn't seem to have a website, but they've gotten pretty good reviews, even with their Papyrus sign.
I don't think the graffiti artist likes Papyrus, either.

Claudio Corallo Chocolates

2009-04-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

A new specialty chocolate shop just opened in Ballard, and guess what font their sign is in? You don't even need to guess, do you.Claudio Corallo Chocolate's website is not in Papyrus, so there is one of two things at work here. 1 - They are using Papyrus on their temporary banner until they can have a real sign made, or, 2 - They don't really care that their website is in a tasteful font and are going to use Papyrus because everyone else in Ballard is, too.

Goods for the Planet

2009-04-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

Goods for the Planet is a shop I've been trying to photograph forever and was finally able to while waiting at a red light on Dexter. They are all about the Papyrus:and their website:

Show the world a side of America it has never seen... in Papyrus!

2009-04-15T12:19:00.001-07:00

This was on a bulletin board where I work:
It looks like the State Department could use some design advice. Any takers?

The West Wing and Papyrus

2009-04-15T11:56:00.001-07:00

I watched The West Wing for the first time ever last night, and the fifth episode on the first season features Papyrus font:
The context in which it was featured is rather interesting, however, because the people using it were fanatical nature buffs who wanted to build a multi-billion dollar wolf highway across the United States to save the wolf population.
So the choice of Papyrus font speaks more to the stereotypes regarding who uses the font than anything, and the choice seems to have been deliberately bad for the effect of the show.

The show, by the way, uses Trajan Pro.

University Bookstore Still Likes Papyrus

2009-04-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

I was at the University Bookstore again today, and saw the following:
All organic lollipops. They're made by Burnham & Mills, Ltd., but it looks like they might not be on sale any longer.

The Beauty of Google Street View

2009-04-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

We drove past two shops in the span of about 30 seconds today that had Papyrus font on their signs. I didn't have my camera with me at the time, but they're on Google Streetview!

The first was The Loft Salon & Gallery. Their website:and Google Streetview:

The second was M'illumino. Their website:and Streetview:Technology is ~~creepy~~ amazing!

Two Out of Three Ain't So Bad

2009-04-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

Ain't. Unbelievable.

We went to Target tonight and I found - or thought I had found - three occasions of Papyrus.

The first two were in the cards section - a sympathy card and then the brand name for the birthday card I bought my grandmother. I can't find the brand online, so my horrible cell phone shots are below:
The last image is a wine that was at Target called Toasted Head, which was not Papyrus, but I took a picture anyway, just in case. Oops!

Butterflies Love Papyrus

2009-04-11T15:43:00.000-07:00

We went to the Pacific Science Center today, and the Butterfly House signage was completely in Papyrus. (Thankfully, their website is not.)The butterflies didn't seem to mind, however.

The University Bookstore Likes to Stock Papyrus Fontified Stuff

2009-04-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

We were at the University Bookstore last night and I saw this on the discounted table:(Once again, this is a poor quality cell phone image, so apologies.)

You can see better quality at the website.

Zao in U Village

2009-04-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

I ate lunch with a colleague in University Village the other day at Zao, which is a fusion Asian restaurant. On the way out, I saw a row of jars of tea, and all of the jars were in Papyrus.Unfortunately, this picture was taken with my cell phone and was even blurrier than normal, so apologies for the poor quality.

More Papyrus at Work

2009-04-11T15:14:00.001-07:00

I ran across the following two sites while doing web editing last week:
The American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies
and the University of Texas South Asia Institute
Since both of these are nonprofit organizations, I'll give them these, because they probably couldn't have afforded a graphic designer anyway, who could have told them that Papyrus is horrible.

Or, if they did hire a graphic designer s/he should be fired.

Unless it was one of those really frustrating situations where the graphic designer knew better, but the director or otherwise disconnected-from-reality bosses kept saying, "No, but change it to this font, that would look so much better, because it looks 'Asian!'" And then the graphic designer really wanted to rip out his or her hair but also really needed to get paid, so s/he did as the boss said while secretly making note not to ever advertise this website as a past product that s/he created.

That would have sucked, too.

Tango Restaurant's Dessert Menu

2009-04-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

Tango Restaurant has a pretty class website, but they must not have edited their dessert menu recently:A colleague of mine noticed this when she was contacting Tango to inquire about catering and sent me the link.

Unfortunately, Tango improperly embedded the fonts into their PDF, so the Papyrus didn't show up on my Mac. I had to wait until I was back at work and using a PC to open the PDF and then convert it into an image.

That's a lot of work just to see a crappy font. Oh well.

Okay, I'll give you this one

2009-04-05T21:36:00.001-07:00

I stumbled upon this site while fixing broken links on a page for workBut you know what, good for them for using Papyrus font. Because this sort of thing is what Papyrus was freaking invented for. Papyrus was supposed to look like it could have been written on papyrus way back when, and if anyone has a right to claim that, it's the American Institute for Maghrib Studies, so good for you AIMS.

Serenity by Jan

2009-04-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

Perhaps one of the most notorious uses of Papyrus font is in The Office on the Season 4 episode, "Dinner Party."
Now there's an actual website for the candles, which is also owned by NBC. Marketing genius.

Trader Joe's Loves Papyrus

2009-04-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

When I posted earlier, I thought this was a one-time fluke, but not so much. Trader Joe's seems to love Papyrus on lots of stuff:

Ballard Market is Papyrus-ful (and not)

2009-04-05T15:16:00.000-07:00

It's a beautiful day today, and we went to the Ballard Sunday Market. The first image: The second image is actually not Papyrus.I took the shot from a ways away and didn't realize until I got home that it wasn't Papyrus, although it looks hand-painted and Papyrus-inspired. Oops.

Pet Papyrus

2009-04-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

We made another trip to our neighborhood pet store today, and saw even more Papyrus, in addition to our Papyrus-y dog food.The second image looks like a family-made calendar that was given the store, so we can't really fault that one.

Tin Cup Espresso, AKA Papyrus Heaven

2009-04-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

Tin Cup Espresso in South Lake Union has been on my list for a long time to photograph.
I was finally able to stop by yesterday and the place was covered in Papyrus font.

There were even business cards on the wall in Papyrus font:The one above was from United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, and the one below for Griffin Stone Installation.

They just celebrated their one-year anniversary and the guy working there yesterday said that business hasn't been that good lately with the economy. They don't have a website, but have great reviews, so check them out if you're in the neighborhood.

Hot Yoga

2009-04-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

On the way to Marymoor Park yesterday, we took a slight detour through Bellevue, and saw the following sign:It was in a pretty nondescript building, so maybe they were just trying to jazz up the place, give it some color, a certain level of obnoxiousness...

They're also online and have good reviews.

Inherited Bad Font

2009-04-01T22:06:00.001-07:00

I was in a colleague's office today and saw this book on the shelf:The book is about conflict between Taiwan and China. This person didn't think too highly of it. But maybe he was really just distracted by the font on the cover.

Global Papyrus

2009-04-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

Global Daughter dropped off business cards and leaflets at the UW at some point recently. This is their leaflet:

Librarians Love Papyrus

2009-03-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

Samuel Green, the Washington state Poet Laureate, is speaking on April 9. The following flyer was in the library on campus:

College Students Love Papyrus

2009-03-31T20:32:00.001-07:00

One of the stands at lunch today was for the Relay for Life (I think), and they had this sweatshirt hanging up:They graciously allowed me to snap a photo with my phone.

Speaking of Trajan Pro...

2009-03-30T19:16:00.001-07:00

What's better than Papyrus AND Trajan Pro, especially when the dot on the 'i' has been turned into fire? My friend in Minnesota saw this an ad for this restaurant over the weekend:

Papyrus Jewelry

2009-03-30T18:52:00.000-07:00

One of the ads on The Stranger's Slog today was in Papyrus:It linked to Fox's Gem Shop. Maybe they chose a horrible font on purpose so you wouldn't be distracted from the jewelry, and say something like, "Oh, those are pretty, but, wait! Is that Trajan Pro?"

Okay, I know Trajan Pro is also really overused, but at least it has a classic look.

Evidently Even Dogs Like Papyrus

2009-03-30T18:14:00.001-07:00

I had to take our dog to the vet today for an ear infection, and saw this business card in the waiting room:(Both sides of the card were combined above.)

It turns out that there may be a food allergy at work here, so we went over to our neighborhood pet store and bought some new food. The bottom line was no wheat, no chicken, no lamb, no beef... and no rice, just in case. The clerk at the pet store recommended the following food, and of course we bought it immediately considering it was covered in Papyrus:Okay, not really, but we did take her advice, and our dog seems to like it.We'll know in 4-6 weeks whether this solves the problem or not.

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Papyrus

2009-03-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

Won't this help you sleep?All of their herbal teas are papyrus-happy.

da Pino Italian on Ravenna

2009-03-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

Da Pino Italian at 65th & Ravenna is supposed to be great.

Their designer, however, leaves a bit to be desired. Although, they do get points for not only using Papyrus, but for stylizing it! This sign stretches out the letters, which are definitely Papyrus, and makes them a bit less geometric than normal, so it doesn't look quite as tacky as most of the other signs using Papyrus that we've seen.

Fireworks Used to Love Papyrus

2009-03-29T21:35:00.001-07:00

The last time I was in the U Village, I saw a sign in Papyrus at Fireworks. At the time, I didn't have a camera and so resolved to go back and snap a picture the next time I was nearby.

We went to have lunch at Specialty's in U Village today, and on the way out, stopped in Fireworks.

The sign I had seen was gone, but there was "sign" in Papyrus font just down the row from the original display I had seen:Unfortunately, the sun was shining through the window (unfortunately?) and blinded out the image from my low-quality camera phone, so here's a close-up for which I decreased the brightness. It's even lower quality now, but you can make out the words a bit better:The use of Papyrus seems to be all but gone from that store, so maybe someone is learning a thing or two regarding the fact that this font should never be used!

Papyrus 4 Life

2009-03-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

We went to the U District Whole Foods after leaving the U Bookstore, and just as I was commenting that I was surprised I hadn't seen more Papyrus font, I came across these:Flax 4 Life brand muffins are made in Bellingham, and their use of Papyrus is only slightly less ridiculous than their muffin names, which are: Faithful Carrot Raisin (pictured above), Tantalizing Cranberry & Orange, Wild Blueberry, Chunky Chocolate Chip, Hawaiian Pineapple & Coconut. Okay, so maybe just the first two are ridiculous. The muffins are supposed to be delicious, however, so I imagine they don't care too much about their Papyrus font. Maybe it actually helps them sell muffins because the image of their Papyrus-covered muffin containers will be burned on your retinas forever.

Fredrix Art Supplies

2009-03-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

The last Papyrus I saw at the U Bookstore (I probably missed hundreds since I wasn't looking that carefully) was a Fredrix Archival Watercolor Canvas:It looked like most of their other products did not use Papyrus font, so someone messed up on this one.

The Light Garden

2009-03-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

I also saw this at the U Bookstore:The online website has a better image:

Thorp Prairie Foods

2009-03-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

I was at the University Bookstore today without a camera, so I was forced to resort to using my cell phone for some Papyrus shots. The first was a corn bread/muffin mix, Thorp Prairie Corn Bread:Knowing the less-than-stellar quality of image that my phone takes, I looked the mix up online, only to discover that "Rill," which owns the Thorp Prairie Corn Break Mix, loves Papyrus. A lot.

Seattle Chinese Garden Society

2009-03-27T22:28:00.001-07:00

So, I have it on authority of someone familiar with this nonprofit that the staff at the Seattle Chinese Garden Society love Papyrus. So I hopped on over to their website and found one thing with Papyrus on it, which is a map of the Seattle Chinese Garden currently under construction:But, the best part about this map is that it was designed in China, not by the staff at the Seattle Chinese Garden Society office in Seattle. So that means the obsession with Papyrus in this particular instance spans both sides of the Pacific, and, possibly without even realizing it, the personnel in Seattle and the personnel in China were thinking the exact same thing about the font.

Small world.

More Papyrus in Ballard

2009-03-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

Divine Spine is the second chiropractic clinic that I've found using Papyrus font. (The first was on Green Lake.)

On an unrelated note, just as I was about to snap this picture, a young woman with three children jaywalked across Market Street during rush-hour traffic in front of a city bus. There were crosswalks on either side of us just half a block down in either direction.

Further down the street at the corner of Russell and 20th, GreenGo Food, which is pretty new, also loves Papyrus.

Updated: O'Shan Sushi

2009-03-27T22:08:00.000-07:00

I found out on MyBallard today that O'Shan Sushi is now open, so I went over to get another shot, as my windblown first efforts were rather pathetic.Comments on MyBallard from people who had tried O'Shan's said they had great food.

Bria Pilates & Physical Therapy

2009-03-27T21:48:00.001-07:00

I finally had a chance to take photos of Bria in Interbay. They are loving the Papyrus. It's all over their website, too. We could get Papyrus-ed out (since we're obviously not, already) if I posted every single instance they have on their website and outside their studio, so let's just stick with these two.

Concerts in Fremont with Papyrus, Oh My!

2009-03-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

That title didn't really work, but oh, well. I went to Fremont earlier this week for a friend's birthday, and saw two different concert ads using Papyrus.

The first, outside the History House on 34th:It looks like the poster was designed by someone who knew better than to use Papyrus, at least. But the sponsor list:was an after-thought, and made by someone who either couldn't find the correct font or thought that Papyrus was the correct font. Oops.

To be fair, the font that was used on the poster has some similarities to Papyrus, and there have been two cases where I thought I had seen Papyrus when I was riding the bus or driving by a store, only to come back later and see that it was the font in that poster.

After dinner, we were walking by Fremont Place Book Company and saw the following poster for Spring concerts:

Email Signatures and Papyrus

2009-03-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

A friend in Minnesota sent me the following. It's evidently very popular to use Papyrus in email signatures at the university where she works. The image was (really!) part of an email signature, but everything else was taken out to protect the privacy of the innocent and guilty alike, as well as all those who just happen to have really bad taste in fonts.

ABC's Nightline Thinks Papyrus Reminds Us of Food

2009-03-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

Well, considering how lame their title for the food section is, maybe it does...

Attack of the Papyrus

Arts & Crafts = Papyrus

Papyrus = Asian

Papyrus pies

John Adams Born in Egypt

Papyrus also means trendy...?

Papyrus Means Natural, Eco-Friendly, Healthy, etc.

The Oatmeal + Papyrus =

Tao of Bad Design

The Most Amazing Logo in the World

Malabar in the U-District

Blog in Japan

Organic Quaker Oatmeal

More Postsecret

St. Jude

Garden Site

Kyoto Art and Antiques

God Loves Papyrus

Postsecret Papyrus

More Minnesota (via Hollywood)

Minnesota, continued

Email Signatures

Minnesota = Papyrus Heaven?

Papyrus on your keychain (in Missoula)

Ecard Papyrus

Ten Online Ads

Restaurants!

Pasta TV Show

Lack of Funding = Bad Design?

Thanks, Papyrus!

Gay Rights Image

Assignments in Papyrus

Floating Leaves Tea

Dova Silks

Red Truck Salon

Oh, Jesus Freaks

Postsecret Papyrus

Eureka

Soles4Souls

PJALS

Two Random Sites

Another Website at Work

Horrible Ad

Aerial Paragliding

David Horsey Comic

Been Awhile...

Papyrus Comics

More Papyrus Websites

The "Asian"-ness of Papyrus

The Scoop's Got the Scoop... or something

Websites that are Papyrus-ful

Food Brands Love Papyrus

Trader Joe's Still Loves is Obsessed with Papyrus

Whole Foods Papyrus

More U Bookstore Papyrus

Bookbinders Love Papyrus (at the U Bookstore)

Courtesy of FailBlog

Drowning in Papyrus

Ballard Loves Papyrus (and Massage)

Red-Rose Chiropractic Clinic

Phuket Thai

Claudio Corallo Chocolates

Goods for the Planet

Show the world a side of America it has never seen... in Papyrus!

The West Wing and Papyrus

University Bookstore Still Likes Papyrus

The Beauty of Google Street View

Two Out of Three Ain't So Bad

Butterflies Love Papyrus

The University Bookstore Likes to Stock Papyrus Fontified Stuff

Zao in U Village

More Papyrus at Work

Tango Restaurant's Dessert Menu

Okay, I'll give you this one

Serenity by Jan

Trader Joe's Loves Papyrus

Ballard Market is Papyrus-ful (and not)

Pet Papyrus

Tin Cup Espresso, AKA Papyrus Heaven

Hot Yoga