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MaKayla Beck

ARH 246 - History of Graphic Design

Peter Barr

18 November 2018

The Typeface of The Time

Times New Roman (c. 1929) and Bauhaus (c. 1926) are similar in that the maker of each

typeface was commissioned to design them. However, they are different in that of who designed

these typefaces and who paid for them to be designed, when they were designed, where they

were designed, what they were designed for what they are used for today and many of their

stylistic features.

The designers and patrons of these typefaces were different and these two typefaces were

designed for different reasons as well as used very differently today. Times New Roman was a

typeface that a British Newspaper, The Times commissioned Stanley Morison in c. 1925 to

design. Morison was asked to create this typeface only after he had criticized The Times for

being outdated. While Morison was creating this typeface, he then commissioned Victor Lardent

to draw each letter for this new typeface. While Times New Roman was commissioned by a

newspaper, Bauhaus was commissioned by Walter Gropius of the Bauhaus School of

Typography in Germany commissioned Herbert Bayer in c. 1920 to design the typeface. Herbert

Bayer was also an instructor at the School of Typography. Today, Times New Roman is very

widely used across the world. Times New Roman has been the default font in many programs

like Word Processor. While Times New Roman is available on every program and in some cases

is the default, Bauhaus isn’t heard of very often and isn’t even offered on some programs.
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The stylistic features of these two typefaces are mostly different. In Times New Roman,

the stylistic features include but are not limited to; a height x-height and small descenders both

allowing there to be tight line spacing. Each letter is also made with a variety of line width

allowing there to be a Robust amount of color on the page as well as it is a serif font and was

known for its legibility, space saving ability, looking good in any size as well as being available

in regular, medium, bold, semi bold, extra bold, and condensed as well as Italic. Times New

Roman does not conform to geometric shapes, while Bauhaus on the other-hand is made

harmoniously out of geometric shapes. Bauhaus was also a Sans Serif font as well as being

composed of only lowercase letters. Herbert Bayer believed that there was no need to have

capital letters, that they did not affect the meaning of words. Bauhaus is also described as a

‘blackletter’ font and ‘machine letter’ font. Unlike Times New Roman, Bauhaus is a meticulous

design, made from geometric shapes and made with a balanced layout and a bold type.

Times New Roman designed in c. 1929, but released in 1932 for commercial sale.

Bauhaus c. 1926, both are similar in that the maker of each typeface was commissioned to design

them. However, these typefaces are different in that of who designed these typefaces and who

paid for them to be designed, when they were designed, where they were designed, what they

were designed for what they are used for today and many of their stylistic features.