Most people are not aware of what they are looking at and why it works on a certain level, however if the display is inappropriate they will notice that something is not quite right. For example if you used a 'horror' like typeface on a wedding invite. So you could say that fonts work on a subconscious level.

I just came across this great little audio programe on the BBC website. If you have 30 minutes its well worth listening to. Ian Peacock talks about how the fonts we choose operate as a secret language. There are a whole lot of interviews including Neville Brody and a funny little interview with James Herbert, the horror writer. Who always demands that his publisher use a specific font for his books. He once had his publisher pulp an entire batch of books and had them reprinted because they were in the wrong font. And no he is not nuts, James Herbert worked in advertising before he wrote his first book, so he knows what his talking about.

Another person discusses the detrimental effect that a font can have on your cv. This is something that I can totally relate to; the number of times that I have received a stack of cvs from candidates applying for a graphic designer role who don't even bother to select a typeface, or even typeset their cv makes me want to cry. I get so angry with them because they have totally let themselves down, as well as the profession of graphic designers in general.

The programme also mentions the life threatening effects that fonts can have for people such as air traffic controllers. There are very strict rules about what fonts are used on their controlls because the results can be catastrophic, specially when displaying numbers and letters. The distinction between the two must be extremely obvious or the results can be catastrophic.

Other quotes which I like are: 'Typefaces are the clothes that words wear', 'a typeface dictates what tone of voice we read that in', 'fonts whisper a secret subliminal language', and by Neville Brody ' typography is very manipulative, the choice of a font will tell you how you will react emotionally to a font without even reading it.'

Usability News Org has just released the results of an interesting study called 'Perception of Fonts: Perceived Personality Traits and Uses'. Users were asked to rate the personalities of 20 fonts and also to categorise them into appropriate uses, for example enewsletters, websites, power point etc. Have a read of the results or download the Usability News Org has just released the results of an interesting study called 'Perception of Fonts: Perceived Personality Traits and Uses'. Users were asked to rate the personalities of 20 fonts and also to categorise them into appropriate uses, for example enewsletters, websites, power point etc. Have a read of the results or download the pdf of the article (296.74 KB).