- Microsoft Office introduced a new default font: Aptos, replacing the familiar Calibri after 16 years.
- Aptos is a sans-serif typeface inspired by the mid-20th century Swiss font, created by type designer Steve Matteson.
- Aptos will roll out to Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel in the coming months.
It’s the graphic design news of the month: there are new default fonts in Microsoft Office.
That’s how it is, the familiar Calibri was replaced by Aptos, a sans-serif typeface inspired by the Swiss font of the mid-20th century.
After years of development, Aptos was selected as the default font for Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel, and it will roll out in the coming months to all Microsoft Office users.
The creator of Aptos is Steve Mattesonthe type designer responsible for Segoe, the default Windows font.
Matteson also contributed to the development of the original core Windows font family, TrueType.
In honor of his favorite town in Santa Cruz, California, the Bierstadt font was renamed Aptos.
The novelty was published by Microsoft in a Medium post.
Changes to the typography of Microsoft products
According to their analysis in The VergeAptos is characterized by having neatly cut strokes but with subtle anti-aliasing to avoid the stiffness typical of grid-based fonts.
This sans-serif font it follows the legacy of Helvetica and contrasts with Microsoft’s Arial font.
Calibri, which has been the default Office font since 2007, will remain as an option in the new font menu along with Times New Roman and Arial, but it will no longer be the default.
It is interesting to note that Calibri became famous in a corruption investigation in Pakistan and the US State Department only adopted its use in 2023, after using Times New Roman for decades.
The other custom fonts, Grandview, Seaford, Skeena, and Tenorite, will remain in Office, and those familiar with the Bierstadt name will be able to find it in the dropdown menu as well.
Aptos, the new default font for Word and Excel
Aptos is just one of many new features Microsoft 365 is introducing as the company founded by Bill Gates seeks to make its software more expressive and inclusive.
According to the company, along with the new font collection, new themes, colors, and backgrounds will be introduced.
In the early years of Word and Excel, the default fonts were limited to basic fonts like Times New Roman and Arial.
Times New Roman, a classic, legible serif font, became a widely used standard due to its legibility in print and on the screen. Then Arial became popular, a sans-serif font that stands out for its simplicity.
With the release of Office 2007, Microsoft introduced a new default font: Calibri. Calibri is a sans-serif font, but more modern than Arial, that was specifically designed to take advantage of the high-resolution display capabilities of modern screens.
Its clean and readable design made it a popular choice for documents and presentations.
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