The US State Department shook its entire staff after ditching Times New Roman as the font of choice for official communications.
Evergreen staples have been used by a government body since 2004, but a leaked cable has revealed that is about to change.
As stated in Washington Post (opens in a new tab)the iconic font will be replaced with Calibri font for better readability in digital formats.
Sans serif
The cable, written by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, explained that sans serif fonts – those without the little bumps at the ends of each letter – are easier to read at smaller sizes on digital devices such as smartphones, making them preferred for people with visual impairments.
Microsoft also replaced Times New Roman with Calibri as the default font in its word processing software in 2007 when the font was first released. Perhaps this is another reason for the State Department decision – if they use the company’s products to create documents, it would be much more convenient than having to change the font every time you start a new document.
However, even Calibri is about to go out of fashion now. In 2021, Microsoft wanted to change the default font itself (opens in a new tab) in Microsoft 365 and created five new custom fonts that users can choose from to replace Calibri. For now, however, Calibri still holds the top spot in the IT giant’s possessions.
How TechCrunch (opens in a new tab) notes that Noto, a font jointly created by Monotype and Google, is specifically designed for today’s consumption of written content, being compatible with all the languages and symbols that would be appropriate for the State Department, given its wide remit and international contacts. It is also sans serif.