Times New Roman is the default text font on … well, just about everything.
A brief history of Times
Times has been with us since 1932, when the Times of London (the newspaper) hired font designer Stanley Morison to create a new text font, which was based on historical Dutch designs. Because the font was being used in a prominent daily paper, it quickly became very popular when it was released for general commercial use the following year.
Despite the success of the font, legal wrangling was not far behind (is it ever?) The original font was designed by the Monotype company in England. But the font was soon licensed to Monotype’s rival Linotype in Germany, because the Times newspaper used Linotype’s typesetting machines. (Think of Monotype vs. Linotype as the Depression-era Mac vs. Windows and you’ve got it.) During WWII, Linotype’s American subsidiary registered “Times Roman” as a trademark in the US. Eventually, Monotype settled on calling its font “Times New Roman” and Linotype kept the name “Times Roman”. (In fact, when it came time to license fonts for their operating systems, Microsoft licensed Times New Roman from Monotype and Apple licensed Times Roman from Linotype, perpetuating the schism.)
As font technology has evolved—from lead type, to photo typesetting, to digital—Times has been one of the first fonts available in each new format, for the sake of backward compatibility. But this first-mover advantage in each format has only solidified Times’s hegemony as the ultimate default font.
Furthermore, the translation of Times from one platform to the next has spawned a proliferation of similar but not-quite-compatible versions of Times. The original Monotype and Linotype versions drifted apart over the decades. In the digital age, new versions of Times have continued to sprout, some with subtle changes (Times Ten), some with major cosmetic surgery (Times Europa). (In a rare instance of standardization, Windows Vista and Mac OS X both now use version 5.01 of Monotype’s Times New Roman. Perhaps because Monotype bought Linotype in 2006.)
Objectively, there’s nothing wrong with Times. It was designed for a newspaper, so it’s drawn a bit more narrowly than most text fonts—especially the bold style—but that’s not a huge liability. As with Helvetica, it’s arguable whether its longevity is attributable to the intrinsic quality of its design or just to its utter, immovable familiarity.
But subjectively, familiarity breeds contempt. Given its position as the ultimate default font, the appearance of Times in a book, document, or advertisement connotes a certain apathy—it says “I submitted to the font of least resistance.” Times is not a font choice so much as the absence of a font choice, like the blackness of deep space is not a color. To look at Times is to gaze into the void.
If you have a choice about whether to use Times
Please, stop. What possible excuse do you have to keep using Times? There are hundreds of text fonts out there that are fresher, easier to read, and better looking than Times. They’re not expensive. Why not try one?
It bewilders me to visit big law firms that clearly spent top dollar on their websites and their Aeron chairs but that still use Times for their correspondence and internal documents. It equally bewilders me to visit small firms that don’t have to go through twenty layers of approval that are also still using Times.
Did you make your business cards and letterhead on a photocopier at Kinko’s? No, you didn’t, because you didn’t want them to look shoddy and cheap. If you cared enough to avoid Kinko’s, then you care enough to stop using Times. (And don’t tell me you use it because courts require it—they don’t.)
If you don’t have a choice about whether to use Times
I recognize that many law offices will wimp out and retain Times as their official font. If you’re stuck with that choice, then make the best of it. The built-in version of Times on your computer is the worst you can do. Instead, buy a real Times font family for your office and use it in place of the operating-system version. Get the Times small caps font and use it. Get the Times semibold font instead of the traditional, overly dark bold font, and use that. (But remember, don’t mix the new Times fonts with the built-in Times fonts—they won’t quite match.) Your documents will still be recognizably Times, just slightly spiffier. Think of it as a Botox injection.
This is downright poetic.
I don’t get it, but I like your passion.
You should be aware that in many courts, including nearly every federal court, documents are required to be in either Times New Roman or Courier. But there is no reason not to use something else for letters.
A common urban legend, but not true. Please see the appendix on court rules regarding fonts.
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Wonderful site, love the advice and recommendations, but you’re missing something important about Times New Roman, because your advice assumes that you have complete control of the document. In transactional practice, when you’re preparing an electronic document that will be reviewed by a number of different people using different computer systems, preparing your draft contract with a font not available on the other systems will result in substituted fonts, issues with line ends and even pagination issues, which can become an annoyance. And, after carefully selecting your font to present a more classy image, when your client’s system substitutes a different font, your effort may be for naught.
Yes, it’s boring, but Times New Roman is the font of choice when preparing electronic documents that will be viewed and modified by others on their systems.
And I read further on and you make exactly my point in part 13 of your Intermediate Typography section. You’re on it. Great site.
Times New Roman diehards might also like the new font Starling. In a bit of typographic investigative research, Starling is based on the work of William Burgess, whose work might have been a major source of inspiration for Stanley Morison. It looks very similar to Times New Roman, with a much better italic.
Ha ha! I’m a graphic designer, and I always say, “Nothing says ‘I don’t care’ like Times New Roman.”
I seriously thought this site was a joke at first. Now I’m laughing because the concept of this all is so awesome! I just hope the intended audience takes the time to actually read it.
Great advice and I agree wholeheartedly. But, as you know, lawyers are pack animals. Times is the safe pick. It might say “I don’t care what font I use” but it doesn’t say “I’m an idiot”. Not being seen as a dolt or someone “trying to be different” is more important than being stylish.
Basically, what I’m saying, is the safe choice is better than a bad choice. I see way, way too many bad choices at the State Court Level. And man, are they bad.
BUT, the Sabon font you suggest in another page is notably better. Keep the info coming!
- Jesse
Lawyers may be “pack animals” in certain respects, but most lawyers I know have put a fair amount of thought into their website, their cards and stationery, the location and décor of their office, their appearance and wardrobe, their speaking and writing skills, etc.
One core premise here is that typography deserves at least the same consideration as any of these topics. The corollary premise is that if lawyers have the capacity to make thoughtful decisions about those other topics, they can make thoughtful decisions about typography too.
I can agree with you that no one ever got fired for using Times New Roman (and no one ever will). But based on the mail I get, there are plenty of lawyers out there who never really knew that they had other options.
“Please, stop. What possible excuse do you have to keep using Times?”
Fair enough. Why is your post written in Times though?
I wholeheartedly agree that Times is a despicable font, one that’s used solely because my firm (3 attorneys, 2 staff members) can’t agree on anything else. I’m determined to find SOMETHING other than times. I’m going to check out some other fonts. The one concern that my colleague did bring out to me (and this is likely a very specific issue) is that her name has an upper-case I next to a lower case l, and Times does a great job of differentiating the two. She hates Arial for this reason. I’ll find something though, anything, rather than this garbage that is Times.