The Times is changing its typeface as of Monday to reflect the paper’s change to tabloid format in November 2003.
The new typeface has been specially designed and is called Times Modern.
It is said to “encapsulate the paper’s heritage while adapting to the demands of the new compact format.”
It is the first new Times typeface for four years and replaces Times Classic.
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Times New Roman – used by the paper from 1932 to 1972 – remains the most widely used typeface in the world. Times Europa followed in 1972, then Times Millennium in 1991.
The typeface project has been led by deputy editor Ben Preston with Neville Brody, formerly art director of The Face, who also worked on the redesign of Times2 in 2005.
Editor Robert Thomson said of the latest change: “The Times has always kept the readers’ needs at the heart of any design work and our designers have worked intelligently to introduce changes that we think help the reader navigate the paper more effectively
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“Ben and the team have done a remarkable job in honouring our tradition and creating a look that will serve long into the future. Readers of The Times are visually astute and our changes have been implemented in order to meet their exacting requirements. ”
Brody said of the new look: “”The Times had almost all of the tools it needed to create a dynamic,
usable, clearly-articulated and familiar language from within its
current vocabulary. What it lacked was a few catalytic elements and an
evolved architecture (both page and section). Following its move from
broadsheet size, the paper still carried some of the design language of
the larger format. Essentially, the approach we adopted has been more
architectural than decorative and more fundamental than surface. Visual
elements and devices needed to be re-visited from the ground up and
rationalised within a clear plan and layout.”
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