Microsoft wants you to help pick a new default font for its Office productivity suite. The current go-to font Calibri is rejoining the pack, with Microsoft commissioning five new options.
The clean and crisp Calibri “known for soft corners and narrow proportions” has been the default font since it replaced the decidedly old-school Times New Roman way back in 2007. Both have, at least, done their best to prevent people using Comic Sans, but Microsoft says it’s time for a fresh look.
The five options that’ve have been announced today will all take their place in the font menu in Word, Outlook and other Office and Microsoft 365 apps from next year. The options are Bierstadt, Grandview, Seaford, Skeena and Tenorite and Microsoft has taken to Twitter asking users to pick their favourites.
We need to talk. What should our next default font be? pic.twitter.com/fV9thfdAr4
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) April 28, 2021
While it’s a small change, Microsoft is well aware it’s quite an important one too. Not only for the look and feel of the app, but for its users too. In a blog post announcing the change, Microsoft said: “A default font is often the first impression we make. It’s the visual identity we present to other people via our resumes, documents, or emails. And just as people and the world around us age and grow, so too should our modes of expression.”
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The company is taking this pretty seriously with each font getting its own pitch within the blog post. Microsoft adds: “The design of an individual letter may be artistic but getting all these individual letters to work together to make words, sentences, and paragraphs is a science of its own. In typeface design, the space and shapes between letters is just as critical as the letter shapes themselves.
“The new fonts span the various sans-serif styles—humanist, geometric, swiss-style, and industrial—and we’ve interviewed the designers of each to help bring their nuances and unique personality to life.”
Which font is your favourite? Let us know @trustedreviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
