This might be old news to a lot of people, but it hasn't been put into action yet. So let's talk about Microsoft's decision to change their default font.
In 2007, Calibri replaced Times New Roman as the default font in Word, and replaced Arial in Powerpoint, Excel, Outlook and Wordpad. It was seen as an improvement on Times New Roman, the previous default, as Calibri was built for readability on computer screens while Times had its roots in print media, designed for the British newspaper, The Times in 1931.
Times was chosen as the first default Word font because of its popularity and readability at the time, as well as its compatibility with then-current technology. After advancements in computer graphics, it just made sense to upgrade.
Arial, the other font replaced by Calibri, was developed to mimic Helvetica, a much loved font developed by the company Monotype. Arial was made as a go-around which could be used without having to pay Monotype.
Times New Roman is a serif font, with a robust, solid, and crisp look, while Arial is sans-serif, with softer and fuller curves and Calibri is a sans-serif with subtly rounded stems and corners.
Now, after fifteen years of dominance, Microsoft has chosen to dethrone Calibri. Reasons for the change are up to speculation. The stated explanation is simply that, "while Calibri has served its purpose well, it's time to evolve". Lucas DeGroot, the man responsible for developing the font, believes that the change has more to do with keeping up with contemporary tastes, than it does with readability. While that sounds a little salty, he claims to all for the change, saying that people can develop a distaste for default fonts due to their being overused and misused.
The new default font has yet to be determined. Five new potential replacements have been selected, and the choice will be made democratically. Microsoft is reaching out to the public to vote on which one they would like to see become the new default.
These are the candidates:
Bierstadt: A precise serif font suitable for grid-based typography, but meant to feel a bit more approachable and less institutional, with a "human touch". It is also the only serif font on the list
Grandview: Inspired by German road signage meant to be readable at a distance, this font is supposed to be "mechanical but elegant"
Seaford: The look for this one was inspired by armchairs, and is meant to have a gently organic and asymmetrical appearance.
Skeena: This one is described as being "quirky" with the most varied contrasts between thickness in its letters, and exceptionally high strokes
Tenorite: With exceptionally large dots, accents and punctuations, this fonts' creators said they were "craving something round, wide and crisp" and that they didn't "shy away from going large and circular".
As for my preference, I will say that I'm not fond of that weird typed "a" that Bierstadt and Grandview use (as well as the font I'm using now). I appreciate more consistency between commonly-used handwriting and typing. I guess the "a" is meant to be closer to cursive, but that style has fallen out of use. Makes more sense to model after the printed letter.
Grandview has the coolest inspiration though, and Lee-Anne has given it her vote as the one most legible to her as someone with low vision. While I don't like their "a", as someone who cares about accessibility, this is big points for this font.
Bierstadt gets some extra points too for being brave enough to be a serif font in a non-serif world.
I like Skeena's tilted "e" and it seems the most fun. Default fonts aren't really meant to be fun though.
DeGroot, creator of Calibri, votes for Seaford without giving much reasoning aside from saying it's "strong" and "nice" while not being absolutely neutral.
Tenorite doesn't seem eccentric enough to warrant the carnal description its' creators gave.
I guess my vote is for Grandview despite my misgivings about its' cursive-inspired "a" due to its accessibility.
No comments:
Post a Comment