At some point I learned about ligatures in typography, where adjacent letters change to avoid crowding (e.g. an “f” next to an “i” will often change so the dot of the i isn’t uncomfortably close to the right hand loop of the f). Coupled with extensive old Law & Order / crime shows and their use of ligature, plus the use of chalk outlines for dead bodies, led to this unfortunate mashup.

The “fi” font here comes from https://fonts.google.com/knowledge/glossary/ligature.

(RISD is a prestigious design school; I assume they have some sort of typography class that might cover such a thing.)