Before Times New Roman, there was something better

Meet 46 times “great” grandfather of TNR, the first most readable font and your next aesthetic obsession.

Detail from the Book of Hours of Giovanni II Bentivoglio (Humanist minuscule)

Oh noble sovereign, let me present unto thee: Humanist minuscule. If you never heard about it before, it’s because you’re a normal person. But you’ve been seriously missing out.

This typeface (or, as there were no typewriters yet, it is more correct to call it a “script”) was developeth to be the most readable script of the Renaissance and early Baroque era. Over this past week, I confess, I hath fallen into an obsession with it.

Grant me but a moment, and I shall reveal why it is the finest and most readable script of the olden days. And, I swear not to speak “pretend Medieval” again during the course of the story. But maybe turn on this Medieval-style Lana Del Rey playlist to get into the mood.

What makes a typeface great?

The battle for the “best,” “most readable” typeface is one of the most futile and complicated in the design world.

1. Why is the battle complicated? Text-based products, like digital media, are very eager to invent a typeface that would keep the user’s attention for as long as possible. They invest in introducing their own “in-house” fonts. For example, in 2021, Twitter rolled out the new Chirp. BBC has its own typeface, Reith, which replaced older fonts like Gill Sans and Neue Helvetica.
2. Why is it futile? Studies show that there is no single font that is ideal for all users due to individual preferences and readability differences. Some fonts allow for faster reading than others. However, users don’t necessarily choose the font that’s best for them in terms of reading speed; they often pick based on familiarity or aesthetics instead.

Good, accessible font has several key qualities:

• distinguishable characters (help reduce confusion, especially for people with dyslexia or visual impairments)
• adequate letter spacing (prevents letters from blending)
• distinct ascenders/descenders (for example, ensuring visual differences between letters like “l” and “I”)