A serif is the small ‘bar’ at the end of line strokes (‘stems’). To a certain extent, the legibility of text is determined by “serifs”. The economy of space that characterises the Plantin-redesign had become possible thanks to the improvement of paper quality (which reduced ink spread). For example, ink should not spread into the o and make it a bullet, an “l” should be distinguishable from an “i” and the parallel strokes within an h, m, n or u should not run into each other. It means that from a narrow-printing or downsized point of view, a text can still be read. The two characteristics “legibility” and “economy of space” interact. This is Weagree – accelerated contract drafting – in Times New Roman Times New Roman is appropriate for reading plain texts such as contracts and for that purpose, it uses space economically – nothing more, nothing less. Some people believe that Times New Roman is furthermore characterised by the varied rhythm between thick strokes and fine hairlines, and between the various movements of the stems, bowls and stresses it would probably be more appropriate to reserve those qualifications for Garamond. Whilst Times New Roman became a timeless artistic symbol of its era, the characteristic “economy of space” also reflects its spirit of the age. As with Helvetica but for other reasons, Times New Roman has a firm, authoritative ‘look and feel’. The resulting design, Times New Roman, is based on the Plantin typeface redesign of 1913, the original design of which goes back on the 16 th century Garamond typeface. In response, The Times commissioned a typeface design company, Monotype, to improve the newspaper’s “economy of space” and “legibility”. By introducing the new typeface, the English The Times responded to a criticism about its newspaper being printed badly and typographically behind the times. Times New Roman – History and characteristics.
As one of the oldest typefaces, Garamond conveys a sense of solid tradition, yet still soft and attractive thanks to its elegantly rounded serifs and its diagonally emphasised strokes. This member of the Roman type family has survived the centuries because of its remarkable readability.
The Garamond design that is currently in use was originally designed in the mid sixteenth century by Claude Garamond’s associate Jannon.
You will appreciate that the professional look and feel of Helvetica (and accordingly, its representing the example of simplicity, intuitiveness and accessibility), its being a symbol of the turn of two eras (and accordingly, its being a sign of innovation) made Helvetica the corporate typeface of many companies. Helvetica makes texts look more ‘simple’, ‘accessible’ and ‘transparent’. Helvetica can be characterised as neutral, pragmatic and rational of structure, like the country where it was created and which inspired its name, Switzerland. Its more computer-screen-friendly variant is Verdana. Hence, Microsoft took the Helvetica and, in order to avoid copyrights made its own copy of it. But Helvetica is a copyright protected design.
Windows made it possible to resize and reshape the default typefaces: sizeable and potentially more elegant. Whilst the graphic industry’s computer, Apple Macintosh, could work with the original, the DOS and Unix-driven companies were limited by the fonts delivered with the printer. Many designers consider Helvetica to be a perfect typeface design. One may say that Helvetica is the perfection of what the pre-digital world offered. It was designed in 1957, at the turn of an era it is a symbol for the shift from the analogue to the digital world, marking the growth of post-war confidence and the European economy, as well as the very beginning of the digital age of word processing and the consumer society.
One of the other typefaces, which was not by default on each printer, was Helvetica. Many of you will remember the awful Courier font. The manufacturers forced us to use pre-defined, fixed sized fonts.
With the introduction of MS Windows (notably version 3.0 or 3.11) in our lives, everyone used to rely on the manufacturer’s printer drivers (you may remember HP Laserjet (or DeskJet)) and each new computer program came with floppy disks filled with the drivers of the then currently available printers. Helvetica is one of the most admirable typefaces. They are present on virtually every computer and will therefore show up on each printer. Three typefaces stand out when you select the font for a house style: Helvetica, Times New Roman and Garamond.