Linotype Office Alliance

The Times Europa Office family is designed after the model of the original serif family produced by Walter Tracy and the Linotype Design Studio in 1974. A redesign of the classic Times New Roman typeface, Times Europa was created as its replacement for the Times of London newspaper. In contrast to Times New Roman, Times Europa has sturdier characters and more open counter spaces, which help maintain readability in rougher printing conditions. Times Europa drastically improved on the legibility of the bold and italic styles of Times New Roman. Overall, text set in Times Europa is easier to read, and quicker to digest.

Akira Kobayashi, Linotype’s Type Director, brought Times Europa up to speed for the new millennium in 2006. Now optimized for office communication instead of newspaper design, Times Europa Office offers a familiar yet refreshingly new appearance for serif text. Because of the Times of London’s specific printing conditions in the early 1970s, Times Europa originally has some intentional errors built into its letterform design. These inconsistencies created an even image in newspaper text in the long run. However, these design elements bear no role on modern office communication and its needs. Kobayashi redrew these problem forms, eliminating them completely. Now Times Europa’s font weights appear clearer and easier to read than ever before.