I know people who ask for the star sign of any new acquaintance as this detail can give them some quick insight into a person’s personality. But perhaps they should really be asking ‘what’s your font’? Adobe Acrobat, one of the best PDF editors, thinks we all have a font personality, and it’s just revealed yours in its series of font personality cards.
Just as zodiac signs unveil the essence of one’s character (according to Adobe), these font personality cards “hold the key to discovering your typographic kindred spirit”, from the creative allure of Lobster to the practical charm of Arial. “Let these font horoscopes illuminate your path and empower you to embrace the font persona that speaks to your digital identity,” Adobe suggests. So which font are you? Check out the character of 13 well-known typefaces below.
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Of course, we already know that fonts have personality. We’ve even seen fonts as fashion styles before. Adobe Acrobat also wanted to determine which font personality is the most relatable. Given that it’s 2024 and this is Adobe that we’re talking about, that meant using AI.
The company used the prompt “Please write me a work/professional email as if your personality was the font [Insert Font Name]” to create work update emails ostensibly written in the personalities of 13 different fonts. It then anonymously included the AI-generated emails in a survey of over 1,000 people in the US.
Adobe says. It found that, surprise, over 1 in 10 Americans found the much-maligned Comic Sans to be the most cringey font. Meanwhile, Times New Roman and Arial were the top fonts to be associated with a reputable business. Over 1 in 4 found Courier New to be the most relatable font.
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I’m not sure this experiment was hugely scientific – it seems more a test of an AI’s interpretation of a font’s personality than a test of the font itself. Curiously Gen X and baby boomers both thought Courier New’s emails had the more relatable writing style, but they see the font itself as the most outdated.
You can see the full findings of the survey in Adobe Acrobat’s blog post. In the meantime, if you fancy finding a different font to suit your personality without having to break the bank, see our pick of the best free fonts.
