Luke Prowse from Research Studios has kindly answered some questions about his work with The Times.
Asked about what the overall process was like in producing a new typeface for The Times Luke says:
As you might imagine, the task was a fairly daunting one. The Times as an institution is world renowned for its content, and unusually also for the rich typographic tradition Stanley Morrison left behind. I had quite a few sleepless nights in the early parts of the project, but drew comfort from Morrison also oddly having been self-taught. From the project outset, we discussed the needs of a new headline font both in terms of economic function and aesthetic, and soon after I began drawing initial ideas. A great inspiration to the process was a former Berthold-Wolpe designed masthead that existed in the mid-50’s.
Talking about the development of Times Modern Luke added:
We seemed to more or less hit the nail on the head as far as the general style is concerned. The font did however morph in terms of stroke weight, character widths, and particular shapes, as the project developed, but not hugely. The design of the masthead went through numerous stylistic variations before being settled upon.
Moving on to why Gotham was chosen:
Gotham is the new Helvetica. It’s immaculately drawn, exists in a multitude of weights and functions superbly at body size or display. The generous geometric proportion impart a tangible warmth that trade gothic simply lacked. It’s a real work-horse of a font.
Responding to some of the mixed comments about the new look:
The new font has unsurprisingly received both good and bad press — something inevitable for a project so high in profile. We wanted something crisp and fresh that maintained the heritage of the paper. It wasn’t the objective to create something a million miles away from its previous font, and so far I think it’s ticked all the right boxes.
And finally, are Research Studios doing anymore newspaper work?
Absolutely. We have worked on a lot of projects in this area and we are currently in conversation with a high profile American title and one also in Western Europe – at the moment we cannot reveal more but watch this space.
Congratulations Alan… great work!