Times Roman considered harmful

[unixronin]

Proposed:  that Times Roman^[1] is one of the most horrible, butt-ugly, and difficult to read typefaces in current wide use ever devised by the fertile mind of man^[2], particularly when displayed on a computer screen possessing limited resolution^[3] or when used in small point sizes, and that its use for essentially any purpose requiring legibility should be deprecated.

Discuss.

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^[1]  Plus, of course, its family of related faces such as Times New Roman (Monotype's name for the face; Times Roman is Linotype's name) and their look-alikes.

^[2]  Historical note:  Times Roman was originally developed by the Times newspaper, in order to jam as much text as was humanly possible with then-existing printing technology onto a sheet of cheap, poor-quality newsprint paper while still retaining some semblance of readability.

^[3]  Relative to print; my screen is around 110dpi.

Comments

[juuro.livejournal.com]

Your footnote [2] indicates that clear legibility was a prime design goal. I still find it satisfied -- on print medium, that is.

On display screen with limited resolution and small point sizes your complaint is valid in my opinion, too.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Well, tolerable legibility was a design goal, anyway. It was, IMHO, compromised by the heavy visual weight necessary to ensure that characters printed reasonably clearly on coarse newsprint-grade paper with easily-smudged newspaper inks.

[jmkelly.livejournal.com]

Does that mean we shouldn't use it to make fake 70s-era memos about Bush's National Guard service? Or do you mean that's the only thing it's good for?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

heh. :)
I'm not sure there's any purpose I'd say it's a good font for. There's probably some it's tolerable for.

[bbullock.livejournal.com]

I like Copperplates for legibility, myself.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yup, a good copperplate face can be beautifully clear. But think of their origins -- if you're putting that kind of work into something, you're not going to do it in an ugly or unreadable face.