2/17/10

"Type Reflects Personality"

Justify the statement, 'Type reflects our personality'.

I found a great little article by Dave Murphy called, “Choice of Typeface Reveals Personality Traits”. In the article he list two great examples of how Sir Edward George, the Governor of the bank of England deliberately used Courier typeface due to his opinion that he didn’t need to consider the emotional need of others. The other example listed is the Prince of Wales, who preferred to use modern Helvetica to allude to the idea that he was in touch with the times. Both of these examples are perfect justification of the statement in question.

At the same, time I understand that there are those who would argue, “What about default fonts?” The teenage boy that uses Times New Roman on his book report and the 80 year old that uses the same font to write his granddaughter. Does this font reflect their personality? Of course this great generation gap and use of this font does through a monkey wrench into the mix. But, I would venture to say that in both of these instances the font was left to the default because both of these individuals could have personalities that don’t like change. They are not looking to try something new, or be creative. They are using this default font because it “works for them”… so why would they change it. Even in this instance the statement is still true!

Resources:
AIO Lecture
http://www.dgl.com/itinfo/2001/it010530a.html
http://www.minnpost.com/christinacapecchi/2008/01/09/534/typography_psychology_what_does_your_typeface_say_about_you
http://www.blurtit.com/q2884357.html

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