What Is The Font of the New York Times and Why Is It So Iconic?
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded on September 18, 1851, by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones.
The Times, as it’s commonly shortened, is based in New York City but enjoys vast readership both in the United States and globally. It’s currently ranked 3rd in the U.S and 18th in the world by circulation.
The New York Times has won numerous prestigious awards over the years, including a record 132 Pulitzer Prizes. The publication is owned by the publicly-traded company The New York Times Company.
From its inception until the mid-70s, The New York Times was predominantly a daily newspaper. However, the newspaper has since expanded to include special weekly sections on selected topics. The publication currently boasts over five major sections, including News, Editorials, Business, Sports, Science, Arts, Home, and Travel.
Sunday is probably the busiest day of the week for The New York Times, as the newspaper supplements its Sunday issues with a couple of other special releases. They include Sunday Review, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, and T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
New York Times Font
The New York Times newspaper uses Georgia as its main font.
Georgia is a serif typeface created in 1993 by designer Matthew Carter and later hinted by Tom Rickner for the Microsoft Corporation. The font was originally intended as a serif typeface that would blend legibility and stylishness when printed on small surfaces or low-resolution screens.
It was inspired by 19th-century Scotch Roman designs. Obviously, Georgia has since surpassed its original intention. The font is now available on the logos of numerous brands, including those not necessarily on small or low-resolution surfaces.
Before switching to the Georgia font, The New York Times initially used the Times New Roman. The company made the switch arguing that the new font was clearer and more legible, hence would help them grow their readership. The newspaper continues to use the Arial font on its sans serif font.
But while the main intention behind switching from the Times New Roman to Georgia font was to improve readers’ online experience, some readers still reported difficulties with the new font. To cater to such readers, The New York Times recommends turning on Microsoft’s ClearType software.
ClearType is a Microsoft software designed to access and manipulate individual color strips from pixels with a view to improving text and image quality. Turning on this app makes it easier to read texts on a screen.
The following is a standard procedure for turning on Microsoft’s ClearType;
i. Right click on a blank area of the Desktop
ii. Choose Properties
iii. Click on the Appearance Tab
iv. Click Effects
v. Check the box and in the drop-down box, choose Clear Type
Where to Download New York Times Fonts
The New York Times has used various fonts throughout its history as a brand and publication. The logo itself is called the Chomsky Font, while the body copy is Georgia (formerly, it was NYT Imperial until 2017).
Georgia is one the most popular font types. That also makes it one of the most available. Numerous websites let you download the font free for personal and commercial use. Examples of such sites include Free Fonts Family and Download Fonts.
For the logo font, you can download a free version from 1001Fonts. For the free text generator, check out Font Space.