Halle Burke- Errol Morris Article Reflection

Blog Post: “Pentagram Papers 44: Hear, All Ye People; Hearken, O Earth”

The article I have decided to write for my blog post was about an experiment run by Errol Morris, an acclaimed filmmaker and author. As I began reading, I was first intrigued by the actual experiment described in the article. Errol Morris gathered 45,000 people to take an online test which took them through a series of questions to see whether these people were optimistic or pessimistic. The interesting part about the test was that throughout it, there were six different typefaces present. Errol Morris wanted to see whether specific typefaces had an effect on how the test takers reacted to specific questions. The overall theoretical question was, “…are some typefaces more believable than others?” After analyzing the results of the tests, it seemed as though one of the six typefaces was able to more successfully influence the test takers’ minds-Baskerville.

This experiment made me truly begin to understand the effect that type has on people all over the world. It is so incredibly fascinating to me that even the most minute difference a typeface has can create a completely different feeling, emotion, or reaction than another typeface. As I continued to read through the article I realized that what I was reading was not only about what they actual experiment was, but also a criticism of Errol Morris’ decision making process. The author of the article complains about the fact that Morris decided to only use six random typefaces to use in his test. He genuinely didn’t understand or agree with the outcome of the experiment because he believed that there is no true way to determine which typeface is more believable when you don’t test every single one that exists.

After reading this article, I can definitely understand where the author is coming from when he states his confusion about the experiment. But in my opinion, I don’t think that was what Errol Morris was trying to accomplish when he decided to complete this task. I believe that what he was trying to do was make the comparison between typefaces and the reaction people have to them. I believe that he was attempting to make the realization that a typeface can influence a reader beyond what had been previously understood.