Times New Roman

The most famous newspaper typeface began as a complaint. Stanley Morison, artistic adviser to the British branch of Monotype, criticized the look of The Times and was invited to do something about it; the result made its debut in the paper on October 3, 1932. Morison proposed Monotype's older Plantin as the basis, and the main change was sharper contrast between thick and thin strokes for a crisper image. Credit is genuinely disputed: Morison worked with Victor Lardent, a lettering artist in the paper's advertising department, and although he may not have drawn it himself, Morison called it his one effort at designing a font. Released for general sale, it became Monotype's best-selling metal type of all time.