Changing Times

“The times they are a-changin’,” sang Bob Dylan, but we’re pretty certain he was referring to social upheaval and not manipulating one of your system’s least interesting fonts.

There’s nothing intrinsically bad about Times New Roman, also known simply as Times, designed in 1931 by Monotype under the leadership of Stanley Morison. It has, however, suffered from over-use, being the default serif font that people use to bring a touch of class to their PowerPoint presentations. This has meant the over-exposed font has been sent to the retirement home by serious designers, who feel it lends an unnecessary pipe-and-slippers air to their work.

However, with a bit of imagination, boring crusty fonts can be injected with some digital Viagra and used as the basis for some interesting artwork. Using the outlines of the font as a starting point, coupled with Adobe Illustrator’s innumerable possibilities, you’ll be able to create an image that uses nothing but a selection of characters from the Times Roman font. Insane? Perhaps, but this is an experiment anyone can do...