A font of self-knowledge awaits.

January 11, 2010 7:05 PM

What type are you? (password: character) Step into Pentagram's psychoanalyst's office, and let him diagnose your type. 'Researched over seven years with a team of 23 academics across Eastern Europe, ‘What Type Are You’ asks the four key character questions of our day, analyses your responses in exceptional detail and recommends one of 16 typefaces as a result. The recommendation is sometimes controversial but always unerringly true. Said one respondent, “At first I felt angry when I was told my type is Pistilli Roman but two weeks later, I was completely reconciled to it. Now I wonder why I ever thought I was a Gill Sans.”'
posted by heatherann (126 comments total)

Hah, I liked the video nature of the quiz. I'm Bifur...
posted by Nattie at 7:11 PM on January 11, 2010

If I were a type, I always like to think I would be an exception; but I never get noticed at runtime, so unfortunately I guess I'll always just be an error.
posted by koeselitz at 7:13 PM on January 11, 2010 [7 favorites]

Courbusier Stencil? F that. HATE stencil.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:14 PM on January 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

Van Doesburg ... bluech!
posted by Relay at 7:14 PM on January 11, 2010

You know, I'm having a pretty crappy day anyway, and to cap it all off by being told I'm COOPER BLACK ITALIC?!
posted by ErikaB at 7:14 PM on January 11, 2010 [8 favorites]

Love the title of your post. You think we don't notice, but we do.
posted by shothotbot at 7:16 PM on January 11, 2010 [8 favorites]

New Alphabet???? Almost totally illegible??? What am I supposed to make of that?
posted by taff at 7:19 PM on January 11, 2010

Dot Matrix in tha house!
posted by spilon at 7:20 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

I always knew I was Universal.
posted by Madamina at 7:21 PM on January 11, 2010

I agree with Nattie that the video nature of the quiz was fun. And Austrian Christopher Walken's delivery was somehow soothing.
posted by shannonm at 7:22 PM on January 11, 2010

Baskerville Italic for me.
posted by Prospero at 7:22 PM on January 11, 2010

I don't like that the options you click are questions instead of answers. Also, I'm bitter because I'm Bifur which is just unusable.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:23 PM on January 11, 2010

Doesn't work for me. The video rolls along but none of the actions on the left do anything.
posted by crapmatic at 7:23 PM on January 11, 2010

I thought from the first question that it was just going to be based on a briggs-meyers typolgy. (because...your type? get it? hah?). it was only partially that.
Also, it told me I was Baskerville Italic, so fuck that. I've always been a Univers man.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 7:24 PM on January 11, 2010

I swear, if I get comic sans I'm never leaving my house again.
posted by idiotfactory at 7:24 PM on January 11, 2010 [4 favorites]

I recommend reloading it and refusing to input your information. After the "quickly, now!" he starts fidgeting and spinning around in his creaky chair. :)
posted by heatherann at 7:24 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Expanded Antique? Well, that's interesting.

Crap, now I've got "For The Benefit of Mr Kite" stuck in my head.
posted by koeselitz at 7:24 PM on January 11, 2010

Dot matrix.

I don't know how I feel about that.
posted by rtha at 7:25 PM on January 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

Watching through all of the "other types" was a lot better than the initial questions. While there wasn't anything wrong with the questions or their delivery, the discussions of the various typefaces is really quite charming.
posted by aubilenon at 7:25 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

The quiz messed up my first time through and went directly to the 'Courier' type after I entered my name and password.

Then I reloaded, actually got the questions this time, answered them all honestly, and my type ended up being Courier.

It seems this is a pretty good quiz.
posted by kaibutsu at 7:26 PM on January 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

We all love to hate on Comic Sans, and don't get me wrong, it deserves the hate. But surely Cooper Black - the font of Garfield, Diff'rent Strokes, and novelty t-shirts sold at the mall - deserves a portion of that hate, as well.
posted by ErikaB at 7:27 PM on January 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

universal. i'm ok with no caps and a modern look.
posted by pappy at 7:27 PM on January 11, 2010

Archer Hairline. Feels very accurate, though that illegible computer-screen-inspired Dutch one would also be fitting, methinks...
posted by ifjuly at 7:29 PM on January 11, 2010

Wow. Dude needs a serious manicure if they're going to be shooting his hands that close.

Also: Universal. Awesome!
posted by griphus at 7:29 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Universal. I am totally comfortable with modernity.
posted by scody at 7:29 PM on January 11, 2010

Click link.
See "Please turn on your speakers" message.
Close link.
posted by qvantamon at 7:30 PM on January 11, 2010

I am Perpetua Titling Light.
posted by sunshinesky at 7:31 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

um...it keeps telling me my password is wrong???
posted by supermedusa at 7:33 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm Archer Hairline.
posted by dunkadunc at 7:33 PM on January 11, 2010

ok, I just woke up from a 4 hour nap, brain no worky yet :P
posted by supermedusa at 7:34 PM on January 11, 2010

van doesburg. ew.
posted by supermedusa at 7:37 PM on January 11, 2010

Bifur.

Man, that is an UGLY font.
posted by scrutiny at 7:41 PM on January 11, 2010

Archer Hairline what?
posted by contessa at 7:42 PM on January 11, 2010

But surely Cooper Black - the font of Garfield, Diff'rent Strokes, and novelty t-shirts sold at the mall - deserves a portion of that hate, as well.

Bite your tongue.
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 7:43 PM on January 11, 2010 [9 favorites]

Universal! The descriptions are so lovely.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 7:44 PM on January 11, 2010

Baskerville Italic.

I dunno - it's a nice font, but I wouldn't want to use it every day, you know? It's a little showy using italic all the time...

(shudder)
posted by Guy Smiley at 7:46 PM on January 11, 2010

Courier.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:49 PM on January 11, 2010

And here's a t-shirt to go with Combustible Edison Lighthouse's excellent BTT link.
posted by shannonm at 7:50 PM on January 11, 2010

Oh yeah, I've always hated Cooper Black. There's something so 80s lowbrow about it. I'm Bifur, and though I don't go for the design of it, the guy's mild Euro accent and especially the extreme closeup of letterforms in print made me kinda like it.

Am I the only one that was distracted by the almost-sync of the voiceover and the guy's hand gestures? I found myself thinking about how the video was produced, not listening to what he was saying.
posted by dammitjim at 7:52 PM on January 11, 2010

I AM courier!
posted by buzzkillington at 7:52 PM on January 11, 2010

Didn't work using the Webkit nightly build, or Safari or Firefox but, after three tries, Camino came through for me. All that to find out that I am Bifur, which is playful and clever and, as noted above, utterly useless.
posted by esome at 7:53 PM on January 11, 2010

I tried for ten minutes to enter a password it was happy with, and could never get beyond the therapist getting impatient and spinning in his chair while I tried to get it to accept my information.

*shrug* Cute idea, maybe. It just didn't work for me.
posted by hippybear at 7:54 PM on January 11, 2010

Pistilli Roman, though the only question I had which couldn't have gone either way was the last one, and only that because the description of eating the chocolates was dead-on for me.

That said, it's a nice font, but kind of white-tie. Not for everyday use by a long shot.
posted by Navelgazer at 7:57 PM on January 11, 2010

Am I the only Plastica on Mefi?
posted by bangalla at 7:59 PM on January 11, 2010

Hey, that Behind the Typeface was great. I like Rosemary a lot. Better than Cooper Black, for sure.
posted by dammitjim at 8:01 PM on January 11, 2010

Nope, I've tried it in three browsers now, and it won't let me enter a password.
posted by hippybear at 8:01 PM on January 11, 2010

Being a computer programmer, Courier makes sense as much as anything would.
posted by graymouser at 8:06 PM on January 11, 2010

People, read the post -- the password is character.

(I'm Universal.)
posted by decagon at 8:07 PM on January 11, 2010

hippybear, did it refuse the password "character"?
posted by maudlin at 8:08 PM on January 11, 2010

hippybear: did you see that the password is "character"?
posted by JDHarper at 8:11 PM on January 11, 2010

Cooper Black ... maybe ok, not what I expected ... but, tis true that I love my love handles.

What a great vid story of the font, Combustible Edison Lighthouse!
posted by Surfurrus at 8:12 PM on January 11, 2010

Courier, FTW! Woo-hoo!

I tried for ten minutes to enter a password it was happy with, and could never get beyond the therapist getting impatient and spinning in his chair while I tried to get it to accept my information.

The password is "character." I somehow overlooked it in the text of the FPP post too.
posted by treepour at 8:13 PM on January 11, 2010

archer hairline here. (really well written and delivered.)
posted by progosk at 8:13 PM on January 11, 2010

I'm Cooper Black and PROUD (now that I watched the vid combustible edison linked to.)
posted by NikitaNikita at 8:17 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

"A man shall discover his nature by his own hand."

This is a terrible idea executed very well. A sign of modern times if ever I saw one.
posted by discountfortunecookie at 8:19 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Jeez. No, I didn't see that. In fact, I had to do a command-F for "character" to even locate it in the FPP at all. Total fnord happening there. Thanks.
posted by hippybear at 8:22 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm Universal, which strikes me as somewhat ugly. Oh well.
posted by selenized at 8:25 PM on January 11, 2010

What the what--Bifur? They made that font up. I am so not that font.
posted by Go Banana at 8:26 PM on January 11, 2010

Given the answer universal, I guess that makes me a self-hating type.
posted by BrotherCaine at 8:30 PM on January 11, 2010

Dot matrix, really? I've never even seen it before! Loved the video.
posted by misha at 8:31 PM on January 11, 2010

Archer Hairline.

I like it.
posted by Skygazer at 8:32 PM on January 11, 2010

This is very nice, though the accent is a bit hokey. I was Universal but I had some trouble deciding on my final answer. In the process of having trouble I was treated to an amusing idle animation.
posted by ropeladder at 8:36 PM on January 11, 2010

Perpetua Titling Light. I had to look it up because I didn't know what it was, but I like it.
posted by pecknpah at 8:47 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Universal
posted by sammyo at 8:52 PM on January 11, 2010

...just thought you'd all want to know.
posted by sammyo at 8:53 PM on January 11, 2010

Cooper sans serifs
posted by parmanparman at 8:57 PM on January 11, 2010

Courier
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:00 PM on January 11, 2010

Film student is discovered to be Courier? NO RLY
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 9:03 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

sunshinesky: I am Perpetua Titling Light.

Me too. What a nice, nice type I am.
posted by paisley henosis at 9:08 PM on January 11, 2010

New Alphabet. I guess it fits.

(I wish the analyst didn't have dry cuticles and chewed -up nails. )
posted by oneirodynia at 9:09 PM on January 11, 2010

Has anyone else noticed the hand on the bottom shelf of the chest-thing in the background is giving us the finger?
posted by fore at 9:22 PM on January 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

Turns out I am Z҉A҉L҉G҉O. Figures.
posted by idiopath at 9:26 PM on January 11, 2010 [4 favorites]

i'M UNIVERSAL WHICH HAS NO CAPITAL LETTERS SO i CAN'T TELL IF MY CAPS LOCK KEY IS BROKEN.
posted by chairface at 9:29 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

. matrix? Hmm... Oh well, back to blitting sprites in Flash for me now.
posted by OntologicalPuppy at 9:48 PM on January 11, 2010

"Am I the only Plastica on Mefi?"

Nope, I am one too. I can't seem to find it anywhere online, though.
posted by autoclavicle at 10:09 PM on January 11, 2010

STOP HATING ON COOPER BLACK ITALIC!

I mean, who didn't love Diff'rent Strokes?
posted by ohyouknow at 10:09 PM on January 11, 2010

Am I really the first Baskerville Italic? I'm guessing it's because I chose traditional over progressive. Whatever, it's a beautiful type, particularly the ampersand.
posted by Nomiconic at 10:11 PM on January 11, 2010

However, I used this without the sound on so I may or may not actually be Plastica...
posted by autoclavicle at 10:11 PM on January 11, 2010

Extended Antique, reporting for duty.
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 10:15 PM on January 11, 2010

cute, but it would be better if they actually tested the pagination in the 'who else is your character?' section. i can't believe that made it out like that.

otherwise, love it.
posted by mrballistic at 10:43 PM on January 11, 2010

Lettres Ornees. Odd, archaic, overdone and not conventionally attractive. Sounds about right.
posted by thivaia at 10:47 PM on January 11, 2010

Plastica here. Which suits me just fine. I wouldn't want to type a whole paragraph in it. But a single well crafted sentence would be good.
posted by tylerfulltilt at 10:51 PM on January 11, 2010

Uh, I entered my first and last names and the password ('character') and it told me I'd already done the quiz (I haven't). So I guess my question is, where do you get the password, so I can go and get another one?

Bugmenot didn't seem to think pentagram.com had previously been registered on their site. I'd like to actually TAKE the quiz and see what y'all are talking about (I could make up a fake name but I'd like to do it under my own, lamentably common name).
posted by librarylis at 10:55 PM on January 11, 2010

Dot matrix. I actually lol'd. Surprising, but it really kinda fits.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 10:58 PM on January 11, 2010

New Alphabet.

Of course the last question confused me, because I eat the hazelnut crunch now so that I have the orange creme to enjoy later. What's wrong with orange cremes?
posted by nat at 11:04 PM on January 11, 2010

All that to find out that I am Bifur, which is playful and clever and, as noted above, utterly useless.

Sounds like a superhero. Nevertheless, I too am Bifur, and I find it lovely to look at (if ultimately impractical.) Which oddly is the exact opposite of how I might be described if someone was being uncharitable.
posted by davejay at 11:21 PM on January 11, 2010

fore-

I'm so glad there's another finger spotter! That is, clearly, our type.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 11:23 PM on January 11, 2010

Also: What's wrong with orange creme?

Everything. Everything is wrong with it.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 11:25 PM on January 11, 2010

Without looking at the link I know I am Comic Sans, but sans the comic.
posted by DreamerFi at 11:37 PM on January 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm a Cooper Blackface. How do they know this stuff about me?
posted by ouke at 12:39 AM on January 12, 2010

It's like the Fuckarama of annoying web douchebaggery. First, we get a browser resize, in 2010, no less.* Then, no matter what, I cannot get past the name, password shit, no matter how many reloads. Please tell me this isn't an IE-only app.

Jesus, fail.

* You can pretty much tell you're a fucktard designer/programmer if you resize the browser without permission. Why in the hell do you need 1920 pixels to display a small box in the middle of the screen?
posted by maxwelton at 2:05 AM on January 12, 2010

I got Plastica too, autoclavicle. Plastica, The type which does not exist.

This video attributes its design to Herbert Post, Germany, 1932.
According to the rest of the internet, this typeface is called Umbra, Robert Hunter Middleton, 1935.
There seems to be some conflict regarding its provenance, but hey, it suits me fine being visible only under peculiar lighting conditions. (And slightly askance.)
posted by at the crossroads at 3:16 AM on January 12, 2010

Archer Hairline. Wasn't that a short-lived villain in Dick Tracy?
posted by pernoctalian at 3:38 AM on January 12, 2010

I do love the posed hand flipping the bird in the last frame. Very good.

Oh, Cooper Black Italic
posted by mattoxic at 3:46 AM on January 12, 2010

I'm happy with Universal. Makes me think... If you had asked me what my favourite art movement in the last 500 years was, I'd likely have said Bauhaus. Now I find out that my character type is correlated with a Bauhaus typeface. Are we predisposed by virtue of our character to have certain aesthetic preferences?
posted by degreezero at 4:21 AM on January 12, 2010

Has anyone else noticed the hand on the bottom shelf of the chest-thing in the background is giving us the finger?

I spotted that too, and it kept making me giggle.

Also, dot matrix.
posted by emmling at 5:09 AM on January 12, 2010

I'm Courier. I'm not a typeface nerd but I don't really like Courier. People who think typewriters are cool piss me off.
posted by tehloki at 5:17 AM on January 12, 2010

Dot matrix - and they didn't even have to ask me any questions! I think it's a bit buggy.
posted by fermezporte at 5:18 AM on January 12, 2010

Apparently, I am the only one that can appreciate some Van Doesburg.
posted by psylosyren at 5:27 AM on January 12, 2010

Based on their logic, Bifur should be replaced by the vastly superior Futura.
posted by grubi at 6:02 AM on January 12, 2010

Sorry, people who are having problems with it. I suspect they weren't expecting Mefi-level traffic. The password is always 'character'. Maybe they didn't expect people to have the same name?

I ran it in Firefox (Mac). I would not post an IE-only link. The shame would be too great!

I would, however, post a link to an app with a hand in the background giving you all the finger. Clearly.
posted by heatherann at 6:02 AM on January 12, 2010

Hey!!!! "Asshole" isn't a font!
posted by stormpooper at 6:12 AM on January 12, 2010

also, heatherann, if you have a very common name such as John Doe or No Name or Doctor Who, then it will not let you participate again. Instead it will jump ahead to the type for whomever the last person named "Doctor Who" was.
posted by at the crossroads at 6:12 AM on January 12, 2010

Marina Script? WTF? I'm totally Courier New.

And yes: I think typewriters are cool. So what? Sit on it.
posted by esmerelda_jenkins at 6:14 AM on January 12, 2010

Universal. But of course.
posted by Splunge at 6:27 AM on January 12, 2010

New Alphabet. And I also prefer the orange creme.
posted by pointless_incessant_barking at 7:04 AM on January 12, 2010

Archer Hairline (and I like it). Though I have in the past been involved with Perpetua.
posted by BlueMetal at 7:13 AM on January 12, 2010

I'm Dot Matrix. Or some other such rubbish based on four questions only.
posted by Monkeymoo at 7:17 AM on January 12, 2010

Cooper Black at least was designed, whereas Comic Sans was shit into a collection of b-splines amalgamated into a ttf file. Oddly enough, I recently did a talk at work for a staff meeting entitled "Your Favorite Font Sucks."

I hate that when I saw that it was four questions, I immediately leapt to the conclusion that this was just a way to show 16 typefaces. I guess I deserved to get New Alphabet, unreadable as it may be.
posted by plinth at 7:24 AM on January 12, 2010

Archer Hairline
posted by kaseijin at 7:32 AM on January 12, 2010

I'm Universal. I think I answered incorrectly. I'm not as relaxed about the lack of uppercase in my type as my answers may have supposed.

Neat idea though.
posted by purephase at 7:51 AM on January 12, 2010

Marina Script! I win!
posted by mochapickle at 8:34 AM on January 12, 2010

Yeah, why all the hating on the van Doesburg? I rather like it.

The scary analyst guy sorta creeped me out when he said, "Emotional.... good." I mean, what?
posted by heyho at 8:35 AM on January 12, 2010

Awesome, thank you! I really loved the "psychologist" and his body language. And when he takes notes after a question... lol-funny :)

I like to dance, but on a double-reinforced dance floor! I am Lettres ombrees! :D Becky is pleased.
posted by mostlybecky at 8:44 AM on January 12, 2010

Tried every browser on the Mac, went into windows, finally got the site to load in Opera. Got incorrect password error. Fuck you Pentagram, your site is crap.
posted by Mcable at 9:46 AM on January 12, 2010

I AM NOT DOT MATRIX, I DON'T CARE WHAT MR DOCTOR SMARTY PANTS SAYS!!!
posted by jasper411 at 10:00 AM on January 12, 2010

Universal? Wow. "Be seeing you" I suppose.
posted by GuyZero at 10:39 AM on January 12, 2010

Perpetua Titling Light. It's pretty, but I would have liked to have been Courier.
posted by JanetLand at 11:02 AM on January 12, 2010

I'm actually pretty pleased with being a perpetua titling light. I think it suits me just fine.
posted by sunshinesky at 11:22 AM on January 12, 2010

Courier. People who love orange cremes are thought criminals, beasts usurping the human shape, and will be first against the wall when the typewriter revolution comes.
posted by Errant at 11:34 AM on January 12, 2010

First Corbusier stencil!

It sounded like someone (Corbusier?) used to stencil his buildings with them and there are no lower case letters or numbers. Not that I know anything about fonts but that seems useless.
posted by hydrobatidae at 1:50 PM on January 12, 2010

It was fun to sit and wait after each question to see what Dr. Smartypants would do. He really likes to stir that tea and spin in his chair.
posted by The Lurkers Support Me in Email at 2:46 PM on January 12, 2010

i enjoyed this. expanded antique.
posted by axismundi at 3:00 PM on January 12, 2010

I am Corbusier stencil. And I hate it. I took the quiz again and tried a couple of different answers and got a font I hated even more.

Good thing Word 2007 has never heard of any of them anyway.

I liked the site visit, however. Though it hurt to admit how anal I can be about assorted chocolates.
posted by bearwife at 4:46 PM on January 12, 2010

Archer Hairline. I cost $400 in my entire form, but you can get me to show up a little for $190.
posted by rubah at 7:01 PM on January 12, 2010

Late, but another New Alphabet that prefers orange creme.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 6:04 PM on January 18, 2010