New Roman The first misconception concren- The Academic ing is that it was designedfor use the The United States Court of Appeals by Brian Thaden Times. Many American are quick for the Seventh Circuit has a com- to asociate Times New Roman hroughout my high school prehisive style guide for briefs and with the New York Times because Tand undergraduate career, other papers submitted to the court it is probably the most well known primarily in the late 1990s and that covers everyting from tezxt early 2000s, academic institutions newspaper in the United States. provided one option for research Times New Roman was, in fact, papers: Times New Roman, 12 actually designed for The Times, a point, double-spaced with one-inch British daily newspaper, in 1932. margins. The MLA Handbook f or The Times of London was the first, Writers of Research Papers, the and remains one of the very few, most prominent academic writing newspapers to develop its own guide, suggests students “always . choose an easily readable typeface “The Revolution...in the de- (e.g., Times New Roman) in which sign of books and advertising had the regular type style contrasts passed by The Times, which in 1929 clearly with the italic, and set it to looked much as it did in 1912” a standard size (e.g., 12 points)” (Barker, 269). Stanley Morison (MLA, 116). The Times New commented that the advertisments Roman font is nearly an inescap- easily caught his eye because the able academic reality. Most uni- text “was set too thin and drably versities, and many academic de- laid on the page” (Barker, 268). partments, create style guides that And so, “Stanley Morison…was advise students to produce written Stanley Morrison asked to design the font after he work in a specific format. For ex- publicly declared that the British newspaper The Times used poorly ample, a student writing guide pro- size (only 12 pt) to the acceptable designed (Crum, 2014). duced by Department of History dots per square inch (at least 300). Prior to working at The Times, “in at the West Point Naval acade- The Court’s rules require attorneys 1923, [Stanley] Morison had been my states that all “Narrative text submit briefs in type, such as appointed typographic advisor to should be formatted in Times New Times New Roman, because stud- the Monotype Corporation, where Roman font, size 12, and double ies have shown that long passages he was instramental in having spaced” (U.S. Military Academy at of serif type are easier to read and many important typefaces of the West Point Department of History comprehend than long passages past adapted to machine composi- 2013, 9). The majority of academ- of sans-serif type” (United States tion.” When Morrison was hired ic journals routinely request publi- Court of Appeals n.d.). In fact, by The Times in 1930, he already cation submisions be formatted to “over the last seventy years Times Times New Roman, 12pt. New Roman has become the de- [Morison] said the type design- Times New Roman’s popularity fault typeface of the English lan- er and the printer were engaged doesn’t end with acadmia. The U.S. guage…”(Au 2009). principally to give the public what State Department announced in Why has Times New Roman they’re used to. 2004 that it was “ditching edured for so long? Who designed -Garfield. New 12 as its official font-in-res- it? How did it beomes the standard idence and taking up with Times for print (and digital media)? Just My Type New Roman 14” (Vanderbuilt).

February 25th 2015 ‌† 1 The Times New Roman had expericence designing new [a person who makes detailed Roman was “Originally cut by typefaces. In fact, under Morrison, technical plans] in the prublici- Monotype in England, the design “Monotype…also had another he ty department of Printing House also was liscened by to Linotype on the printing world it Square (Morrison, 105). These because The Times used Linotype transformed the design of ” drawings were then furnished and Intertyoe equipment for its (Garfield, 242). Morison was hired to what Morrison refers to as production” (Romano 2003). to revamp The Times image. “The “the Corporation,” which is the At the time the Linotype and criteria was simple: the new de- Monotyoe Corporation, who then Monotype companies were com- sign would have to appear larger cut punches. “From these [punch- parable to Microsoft and Apple to- than its predecessor, could take up es] the Linotype and Intertype day. These companies dominated no more space, should be slightly companies later made their cop- the printing industry. They manu- heavier and, ultimately, must be ies (Morrison, 105). Times New factured printing presses used by highly legible” (Haley n.d.). By this time Morison had a well devel- oped design philosophy, and while “Working on the redesign of The Times, Stanley Morison advanced conservative justifications for what he percieved as a worrying trend towards unutored individualism… [Morison] said the type design- er and the printer were engaged principally to give the public what they’re used to (Garfield, 259). The goal then would be to redesign something the public was already acustomed to reading; hence the font became Times New Roman because it was a new version of what The Times was already print- ing. Times New Roman was a brand “new typeface was ‘special- ly designed for easy reading…with the approval of the most eminent medical opinion…In response to the need, under modern conditions, of relieving the eye of all possible strain, a new standard of clearness and legibility will be set up” (May, 97). The corporate origin of Times New Roman ( and Times) can be a little confusing. Stanley Morrison…“penciled the original set of drawings, and handed them to Victor Lardent, a draughtsman

2 ‌† February 25th 2015 The Times New Roman Times New Roman - Monotype Times - Linotype Times New Roman - Monotype Steeped in tradition, the Times New Roman® family has been described as one of the most familiar and successful typefaces in the world – and has been used for just about ev- ery typographic application imaginable. Times New Roman is considered an exceptionally legible design that translates well to hard copy and on-screen environments.

Times - Bold Times - Regular Times - Itallic

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU- ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU- ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR ‌STU- VWXYZ VWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLM- VWXYZ NOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 12345678910 12345678910 12345678910 !@#$%^&*()?+_= !@#$%^&*()?+_= !@#$%^&*()?+_=

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 18 pt ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 24pt ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW 30pt ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRS 36pt ABCDEFGHIJKLM 48pt ABCDEFGHIJ 60pt ABCDEFG 72pt February 25th 2015 ‌† 3 The Times New Roman newspapers and book publishers. trade (Kinross,72). Similarily, the Chicago Daily newspaper” “The Linotype and Monotype sys- Microsoft, which dominated both (Morison, 107). As the United tems of mechanical typesetting business and personal computing States Court of Appeals points out, produced words on paper far more in the 1990’s, used Times New “Typographic decisions should be efficently, cheaply and quickly Roman as the default font word made for a purpose. The Times of than hand compositon” (Garfield, processing and internet page dis- London chose the typeface Times 239). Most word processors have play beginning with Windows 3.1 New Roman to serve an audience two version of the font on them which “Microsoft released some- looking for a quick read. Lawyers because Linotype (Times) and time in the autumn of 1992” (A don’t want their audience to read Monotype (Times New Roman) History of Windows n.d.). The fast and throw the document away; each produced a version for their availability of Times New Roman they want to maximize retention”. own presses. These designations on Microsoft computing platforms (United States Court of Appeals still exist today. Both companies could explain why it has endured n.d., 2-3). Academia is similar to using the Times New Roman type- for so long. newspapers in new information face would be like both Apple and Times New Roman, “designed is constantly being published. as it had been for a newspaper, was found peculiary appropriate for the extensive post-war manus- Times Roman is the name used cipt, who pages and price needed by Linotype and registered as to be kept down” (Morrison, 107). a trademark. Times New Ro- Times New Roman was designed man was and stil lis the named to maximize space in newspapers. used by Monotype. Book publishers soon found that the font could be readily used to -Franl J. Romano lower the production costs of book A Tale of Times New Roman publishing. Since the “the design is narrow [it is] therefore eco- nomical” (Morrison, 106) because Microsoft using the same internet publishers would use less paper in Professors, researchers, graduate browser from the inception of the their publications. Morison also students, PhD candidates are con- internet. Everyone, regardless of spent time pushing both his fonts stantly publishing their findings. platform preference, would be and Monotype equipment to other Academia does require students familiar with the internet brows- publishers. Cambridge University and scholar to perform lot of quick er because it would have been was an early adopted of Times reading in order to cover the vast so widely available, it would be New Roman in their how in house quantity of information available unavoidable. press. Morrison…“admitted the in nearly any field of study. A font The fact that both companies good fortune of the other major designed for ‘fast reading’ would produced a verison of the type consultancy of his early years with be ideal for researchers who need may be one explanation for the the Monotype Corporation: as ty- to review a lot of information and dominance of the typeface up to pographical adviser to Cambridge professors who need to grade any today. Morison was able to di- University Press (Kinross 2004). quantity of student essays in a rect a large and influential cus- The font soon spread to magazines, small amount of time. Times New tomer (The Times) to purchase Colliers Magazine, the Woman’s Roman would be up to the task. Monotype equipment and thus to Home Companion and American Dr. Laurence Kominz, a pro- stimulate demand for Monotype Magazine by 1942, and “in 1953 fessor of Japanese Language products more widely in the it was adopted for the Sun-Times, and Literature at Portland State

4 ‌† February 25th 2015 The Times New Roman University, received his Ph.D. in Japanese literature from Columbia University in 1983. Dr. Kominz does not remember his professors providing typeface requirements for papers during his years of undergraduate and graduate study. Kominz said that students used the typewriters they had available. Since many different com- panies manufactured typewriters and the typeface that came with a typewriter was not removable or exchange- able, professors in his day did not require a specific font requirement for a paper. There is no definitive explanation for Times New Roman’s prevalence is academia. It is possible require- ments for academic papers became standard with the introduction of the personal computer, which provided students with many font options. Educators may have sought a way to standardize paper requirements and chose a typeface with which they were already familiar.

Bibliography “A history of Windows.” Windows.microsoft.com . n.d. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/histo- ry#T1=era3 (accessed 02 18, 2015). “A Monotype timeline.” Eye Magazine. 2012. http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/a-monotype-timeline (ac- cessed February 18, 2015). Alas, Joe. “Face Off: How a single brass plate for printing the letter B cast doubt on the provenance of the world’s most popular typeface.” The Financial Times, August 01, 2009: 16. Au, Jessica. “The birth of Times New Roman” Au Jessica Meanjin, Dec, 2009, Vol.68(4), p.14(2). Meanjon 68, no. 4 (December 2009): 14-15. Barker, Nicholas. Stanley Morison. Cambridge : Harvard University Press, 1972.

Bernard, et al. “Comparing the effects of text size and format on the readibility of computer-displayed Times New Ro- man and text .” International Journal Of Human-Computer Studies 59, no. 6 (December 2003): 823-883. Crum, Maddie. “The Incredible Histories of Your Favorite Fonts.” Hufington Post . 03 13, 2014. http://www.huffing- tonpost.com/2014/03/13/font-history_n_4942922.html (accessed 02 16, 2014). Garfield, Simon. Just My Tyoe. New York: Gotham Books, 2011.

GRAPHIC DESIGN HISTORY AND THEORY. May 8, 2012. https://kingydesignhistory2012.wordpress. com/2012/05/08/jake-post-nine-times-new-roman/ (accessed 02 25, 2015). Haley, Allan. Times New Roman/. n.d. http://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fyti/typographic-reference/ times-new-roman-and-albertus (accessed 02 24, 2015). Kinross, Robin. Modern typography: an essay in critical history. London: Hyphen Press, 2004.

May, Derwent. Critical Times. London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2001.

Modern Language Association. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th. New York: The Modern Lan- guage of Association of America, 2009. Morison, Stanley. A Tally of Types. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973.

Romano, Frank j. “A tale of The Times New Roman.” Electronic Publishing 27, no. 7 (July 2003): 40.

February 25th 2015 ‌† 5 The Times New Roman U.S. Military Academy at West Point Department of History. “U.S. Military Academy at West Point Department of History Style and Formatting Guide .” West Point Military Academy. July 18, 2013. http://www.westpoint. edu/history/SiteAssets/SitePages/Documentation/Style%20Guide.pdf (accessed February 25 , 2015). United States Court of Appeals. “Requirements and Suggestions for Typography in Briefs adn Other papers.” United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit. n.d. http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/rules/type.pdf (accessed 02 18, 2015). Vanderbuilt, Tom. “Courier, Dispatched.” Slate.com. 02 20, 2004. http://www.slate.com/articles/business_and_tech/ design/2004/02/courier_dispatched.html (accessed 02 15, 2015).

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