Typefaces are manufactured images designed for infinite repetition (Lupton 13). However, that does not mean that typefaces and fonts don't have personality.

Renaissance artists sought standards of proportion in the idealized human form (Lupton 17). This idea has both persisted and perhaps paradoxically transformed typeface, font families and typology. This image, taken from the Comical Hotch-Potch or Alphabet turn'd Posture-Master, a hand colored print published in London in 1782 by Carington Bowles, shows a whimsical view of 'the idealized human form'. In this case, the print may have been developed to educate children as cavorting, jovial characters provide an instructive view of the alphabet with posture and rhyme (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation publication).

Perhaps it is in the humanist tradition to anthropomorphize type. Typeface can be used as a way to express the personality of the text content, authorial context, and designer influence while attracting and maintaining attention. A 'one-size-fits-all' approach to typeface is neither universally appropriate nor necessary. However, like people, some typefaces work in more domains than others. We shouldn't squander the coveted commodity of someones attention by not paying attention to the details (Lupton 75).

One would be well served to take a Who, What, Where and When approach to typeface. The role of typeface is critical to mood, personality, and tone as these attributes emphasize the importance of a document's genre, purpose and context. (Brumberger).

Citations:
Brumberger, Eva. R. "The Rhetoric of Typography: The Awareness and Impact of Typeface Appropriateness," in Technical Communication; May 2003; 50, 2; Humanities Module, p. 224.

Lupton, Ellen. Thinking With Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, and Students. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press,2004.

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, "Comical Hotch-Potch: Print Reproduction." Worcester, MA: The Charles Overly Studio, 1991 copyright, printed 2007.