Errol Morris: How Typography Shapes Our Perception Of Truth
“Simply put, are some typefaces more believable than others?”
I USED TO WRITE ALL OF MY MANUSCRIPTS IN BEMBO. NOW I WRITE THEM IN BASKERVILLE. —Errol Morris
“The answer is yes. Baskerville, a 250-year-old serif originally designed by John Baskerville, was statistically more likely to influence the minds of readers than Computer Modern, Georgia, Helvetica, Comic Sans or Trebuchet. The results of Morris’s experiment were published online in a two-part essay called Hear, All Ye People; Hearken, O Earth! and have now been put into print, as the 44th edition of the Pentagram Papers, the monograph that the design firm Pentagram sends to an exclusive list of individuals each year. Pentagram partner and long-time Morris collaborator Michael Bierut put together the typographically exquisite monograph, with with the help of designer Jessica Svendsen.”