Fonts need to be inclusive
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State Dept. picks Calibri over Times New Roman
The U.S. State Department is going sans serif: It has directed staff at home and overseas to phase out the Times New Roman font and adopt Calibri in official communications and memos, in a bid to help employees who are visually impaired or have other difficulties reading.
In a cable sent Tuesday and obtained by The Washington Post, Secretary of State Antony Blinken directed the department to use a larger sans-serif font in high-level internal documents, and gave the department’s domestic and overseas offices until Feb. 6 to “adopt Calibri as the standard font for all requested papers.”
“The Times (New Roman) are a-Changin,” read the subject line.
Blinken’s cable said the shift to Calibri will make it easier for people with disabilities who use certain assistive technologies, such as screen readers, to read department communication. The change was recommended by the secretary’s office of diversity and inclusion, but the decision has already ruffled feathers among aesthetic-conscious employees who have been typing in Times New Roman for years in cables and memos from far-flung embassies and consulates around the world.
“A colleague of mine called it sacrilege,” said a Foreign Service officer in Asia, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal policy changes. “I don’t mind the decision because I hate serifs, but I don’t love Calibri.”
At institutions like the Pentagon, the bureaucratic currency is fighter jets, tanks and missiles. But at the State Department, words are the coin of the realm, and how they are used matters.
“I’m anticipating an internal revolt,” said a second Foreign Service officer.
Another said the water-cooler talk ranged from strong approval to mild grumbling. “It definitely took up, like, half the day,” said the official.
The department has used Times New Roman as its standard typeface for memos sent to the secretary since 2004.
In recent years, the decorative “wings” and “feet” of serif fonts have gone out of fashion in design circles and consumer brands have opted for cleaner sans-serif fonts in their logos such as Helvetica. “Millennials Have Killed the Serif,” hailed a New York magazine headline in 2018.
I'm no font expert, but I remember reading the theory that serifs actually make reading easier, because they "guide" the eye from one letter to the next.
Regardless, it's nice to see the State Department doing the people's work.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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State Dept. picks Calibri over Times New Roman
The U.S. State Department is going sans serif: It has directed staff at home and overseas to phase out the Times New Roman font and adopt Calibri in official communications and memos, in a bid to help employees who are visually impaired or have other difficulties reading.
In a cable sent Tuesday and obtained by The Washington Post, Secretary of State Antony Blinken directed the department to use a larger sans-serif font in high-level internal documents, and gave the department’s domestic and overseas offices until Feb. 6 to “adopt Calibri as the standard font for all requested papers.”
“The Times (New Roman) are a-Changin,” read the subject line.
Blinken’s cable said the shift to Calibri will make it easier for people with disabilities who use certain assistive technologies, such as screen readers, to read department communication. The change was recommended by the secretary’s office of diversity and inclusion, but the decision has already ruffled feathers among aesthetic-conscious employees who have been typing in Times New Roman for years in cables and memos from far-flung embassies and consulates around the world.
“A colleague of mine called it sacrilege,” said a Foreign Service officer in Asia, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal policy changes. “I don’t mind the decision because I hate serifs, but I don’t love Calibri.”
At institutions like the Pentagon, the bureaucratic currency is fighter jets, tanks and missiles. But at the State Department, words are the coin of the realm, and how they are used matters.
“I’m anticipating an internal revolt,” said a second Foreign Service officer.
Another said the water-cooler talk ranged from strong approval to mild grumbling. “It definitely took up, like, half the day,” said the official.
The department has used Times New Roman as its standard typeface for memos sent to the secretary since 2004.
In recent years, the decorative “wings” and “feet” of serif fonts have gone out of fashion in design circles and consumer brands have opted for cleaner sans-serif fonts in their logos such as Helvetica. “Millennials Have Killed the Serif,” hailed a New York magazine headline in 2018.
I'm no font expert, but I remember reading the theory that serifs actually make reading easier, because they "guide" the eye from one letter to the next.
Regardless, it's nice to see the State Department doing the people's work.
@George-K said in Fonts need to be inclusive:
In recent years, the decorative “wings” and “feet” of serif fonts have gone out of fashion in design circles and consumer brands have opted for cleaner sans-serif fonts in their logos such as Helvetica. “Millennials Have Killed the Serif,” hailed a New York magazine headline in 2018.
Lolz. Taking in reporting about design is the surest evidence available that people don't know dick about design.
It's no longer the standard. As in, "I need to make some damn thing and I don't care what it looks like I just want it to not stick out in any way"—that kinda stuff is all sans serif, sure.
But when you're designing for a different purpose—say, riffing off other media in which serifs are standard—you're still using serifs. Because that's what makes sense.
Also, these things always swing back and forth. Give it 5-10 years and see what happens.
I'm no font expert, but I remember reading the theory that serifs actually make reading easier, because they "guide" the eye from one letter to the next.
For body copy, yes, that's absolutely true.
Regardless, it's nice to see the State Department doing the people's work.
Pfffffft.
