TIMES NEW ROMAN

Times New Roman is one of the most significant examples of a typeface that has stood the test of time, being one of the most used fonts for over 80 years. British font foundry, Monotype was commissioned by The Times (London), to create the font in 1931, replacing ‘Monotype Modern’ which had been previously used. Typographer Stanley Morison took on the role, and although the origins and inspiration for Times New Roman have been broadly debated, it is commonly believed to have stemmed from the typeface, ‘Plantin’. There was also some confusion when the typeface was first released as Monotype was forced to license the design to rival font foundry, Linotype because The Times used their typesetting machines. Because of this, Mono­type marketed the font as ‘Times New Ro­man’, a slightly different and more angular version than its competitor, which sold its ver­sion as ‘Times Roman’.

Times Roman (above)

Times New Roman (below)

There was a set criteria for the design of Times New Roman that related to the visual components of the font as well as the actual process of it being printed for newspapers. The modern, high-speed Rotary printing presses introduced in the early 19th century had not worked well with finer typefaces, and thus the new typeface had to be primarily clear and easy to read despite the printing process. Like ‘Plantin’ comprised, Morison used elements such as serifs and a difference in weight to improve its legibility. The use of serifs made Times New Roman easier to read as they defined the boundaries of the letter form. Serifs also stem back to the Roman era, being used to decorate engravings and other writings and was thus one of the reasons ‘Roman’ was included in its title. The contrast in the weight and definition of the typeface also enhanced its legibility, making it useful in newspapers because the point size would often be quite small. The resulting font, Times New Roman, depicted a narrow but clear and well defined form.

From a design perspective, American typographer and lawyer, Matthew Butterick states, “it’s hard to complain about” (2013). Apart from the type, particularly the bold typeface being narrower than other fonts to work for a newspaper format, the typeface has been hugely successful. Times New Roman effectively made the transition to digital form, flourishing on a much broader platform than the narrow medium of newspaper print. Macintosh and Windows had both licensed Times New Roman by 1992 and the number of documents set in Times New Roman “exploded” (Butterick 2013) as a result. The font was so successful, Calibri only replaced it as Microsoft’s default font in 2006 as it had a more modern look and was discovered to have higher readability. Linotype states that the Times font became the “workhorse of the publishing industry” (Linotype 2017), continuing to be popular for newspapers, magazines, and corporate and educational aspects such as reports and proposals. However, the reason for Times New Roman’s success is still being debated, with Practical Typography writing that “it’s an open ques­tion whether its longevity is at­trib­ut­able to its qual­ity or merely to its ubiq­uity” (Butterick 2013), stating further on that the font is quite rigid and “apathetic” (Butterick 2013). However, despite the fonts somewhat rigid feel, Times New Roman is one of the most recognisable fonts in the modern world and produces an air of dependability and trust.

Butterick, M 2013, ‘A Brief History of Times New Roman’, Practical Typography, published online, viewed 28 August 2017, <http://practicaltypography.com/times-new-roman.html>.

Linotype 2017, Type Gallery – Times, viewed 28 August, < https://www.linotype.com/259/times.html>.

Beatwicki 2010, Times New Roman, Wordpress, viewed 29 August 2017, <https://beatwicki.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/times-new-roman/>.