The Times
Typeface

The Times is the originator of the widely used Times New Roman typeface, originally developed by Stanley Morison of The Times in collaboration with Monotype Imaging for its legibility in low-tech printing. In November 2006, The Times began printing headlines in a new typeface, Times Modern. The Times was printed in broadsheet format for 219 years, but switched to compact size in 2004 in an attempt to appeal more to younger readers and commuters using public transport. The Sunday Times remains a broadsheet.

The… typeface — The Times New Roman — debuted on October 3, 1932… The design was exclusively available to The Times for one year, and then made available to other customers on October 3, 1933. (Documented in a few places, but the reference I have in front of me is The Monotype Recorder vol. XXXI, no. 247, from September–October 1932. Complicating matters, this was misprinted as being vol. XXI, no. 246.)

This is the big one: the previous face was not known as Times Old Roman. Jeez. Just think about it: why would something be known as "old" whatever before there was a new version? In fact — and this is documented in Printing in the Twentieth Century (published by The Times), The Monotype Recorder, and elsewhere — the various typefaces used before the introduction (The) Times New Roman didn't really have a formal name.

They were a suite of types originally made by Miller and Co. (later Miller & Richards) in Edinburgh around 1813, generally referred to as "modern". When The Times began using Monotype (and other hot-metal machines) in 1908, this design was remade by Monotype for its equipment. As near as I can tell, it looks like Monotype Series no. 1 – Modern (which was based on a Miller & Richards typeface) – was what was used up until 1932.

Dan Rhatigan, type director

In 1908, The Times started using the Monotype Modern typeface.

The Times commissioned the serif typeface Times New Roman, created by Victor Lardent at the English branch of Monotype, in 1931. It was commissioned after Stanley Morison had written an article criticising The Times for being badly printed and typographically antiquated. Victor Lardent, an artist from The Times ' advertising department, created the typeface under Morison's supervision. Morison used an older typeface named Plantin as the basis for his design but made revisions for legibility and economy of space. Times New Roman made its debut in the issue of 3 October 1932. After one year, the design was released for commercial sale. The Times stayed with Times New Roman for 40 years, but new production techniques and the format change from broadsheet to tabloid in 2004 have caused the newspaper to switch typeface five times since 1972. However, all the new typeface have been variants of the original New Roman type:
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