Why would you choose Times New Roman at 20 points over a sans-serif font like Arial or Helvetica at the same size? The answer lies in legibility.
For those looking for alternatives to Times New Roman, other serif fonts like Georgia, Garamond, and Merriweather are popular choices. Each of these fonts offers a unique take on the traditional serif typeface and can be used in similar contexts.
Before diving into the specifics of size 20, we must understand the font itself. Times New Roman was commissioned by the Times of London newspaper in 1931. Designed by Stanley Morison and Victor Lardent, the goal was simple: create a typeface that was highly legible, economical with space, yet had a robust, authoritative character. It was engineered for the high-speed printing presses of the era. times 20new 20roman font
For most of the 20th century, Times New Roman was a print-first font. Its default body text size was typically 9, 10, or 11 points. The idea of setting it at 20 points was reserved for headlines, titles, or large-print editions for elderly readers. With the advent of digital word processors (Microsoft Word made it the default font from 1992 to 2007), Times New Roman became ubiquitous. But its default digital size was 12 points. Moving the slider up to 20 points changes the font’s personality entirely—from a dense, serious column of text to a bold, breathing, declarative statement.
When creating a research poster, body text is often 24-28 pt, but annotations, figure labels, and author affiliations sit beautifully at 20 pt Times New Roman. It conveys scholarly rigor (unlike a casual sans-serif) while remaining readable from 3 feet away. Why would you choose Times New Roman at
Since the query refers to Times New Roman, here are its defining characteristics.
If you have ever written a school paper, drafted a resume, or opened a fresh document in Microsoft Word before 2007, you have met Times New Roman. It is the wallpaper of the written word: ubiquitous, utilitarian, and almost invisible. We stare at it for hours on end, yet rarely do we consider why this specific font came to rule the world, or why designers today love to hate it. Comparison to common sizes:
In typography, point size measures the height of the typeface’s bounding box—not the height of the letters themselves. One point equals 1/72 of an inch. Therefore, 20-point Times New Roman is designed for a vertical space of approximately 0.278 inches (7.06 mm) from the top of the tallest ascender (like the letter ‘b’) to the bottom of the deepest descender (like the letter ‘g’).
At 20 points, Times New Roman reveals details that are lost at smaller sizes:
Comparison to common sizes: