Microsoft is retiring its default font, and it wants your help choosing a new one

Microsoft is changing its default font for the first time in nearly 15 years, and it wants your help selecting the new one. And no, you can't vote for the goofy options like Comic Sans, Wingdings or — heaven forbid — Papyrus.

The company has commissioned five new custom typefaces to replace Calibri, a workhorse of a font that has been the default for all your Word docs and Outlook emails since 2007. Calibri replaced Times New Roman (a noble type family but one with decidedly pre-internet aesthetic).

Default fonts are designed to be unobtrusive and adaptable, and Calibri has served that role capably. It renders well on just about any screen, at any size, but it still has a bit of character. Its subtle curves make it a bit warmer than its blocky sans serif cousins Helvetica and Arial, two designer favorites that are famous — or infamous, in some circles — for their brutal simplicity and balanced stroke weight. (Sans serif means no curly bits at the ends of the letters)

Calibri's finest attribute, however, is that few people, apart from designers and typographers, even notice it. It's the tofu of the type world. But after 13 years, Calibri is starting to look a little dated, and Microsoft wants to give your emails and documents a fresh coat of paint.

"A default font is often the first impression we make," Microsoft wrote in a blog post announcing the change. "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."

Although Calibri is retiring as the default next year, it will still be available among the hundreds of Microsoft Office fonts.

Source: CNN

Microsoft