Errol Morris Reflection

These articles were very compelling to me because they provide the reader with both the believer and non-believer viewpoints of Morris' typography experiment. On one hand, we see an interview with Morris who is very proud of the fact that his experiment resulted in a meaningful outcome. On the other hand, we see Coles' response, where he pokes holes in the experiment and aims to disprove it's very conclusion. I think Cole has some legitimate arguments, specifically that Morris refers to Bembo as his previous go-to font, yet he didn't include it in his test. However, I think I'm going to have to side with Morris and his faith in font choice in this particular case. While Morris talks about how he doesn't really know why he chose the fonts used in the experiment, we also can observe his passion for fonts and the study of typography as a whole. In my experience, I believe that people who dedicate themselves to studying a particular field gain a sort of sixth sense when it comes to that field, almost like an instinct. I choose to believe that Morris, motivated by curiosity and fascination, intuitively picked these six fonts with meticulousness, even if he didn't realize it. This also holds true for a lot of designers who, after a certain amount of time, experience, and experimentation, make design choices like it's second nature. I think my biggest takeaway from these articles is that we should remember to be openminded when it comes to critique and change, and consider how things like font choices create certain tones and moods for the viewer or reader.