Earlier quoted context omitted.
Calibri is woke?
I guess I’m glad they’re focusing on this rather than breaking something else in society
Point is they're doing both, at once.
Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
471–480 of 738 posts
Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
#472Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
#473Earlier quoted context omitted.
The global impression of the US is worth thinking about. The font is part of that.
It's really not. The used font just doesn't move the needle regarding the global impression. 99% of people never ever think or care about the font they use. What else should be decided on on the highest level: spacing, padding, allowance of the Oxford comma? It is useful that somebody thinks about that stuff, just not the highest level of the government. That's like the CEO of Microsoft having meeting about coding co…
The irony here is that Steve Jobs _did_ actually think about fonts. Sure, he certainly didn't think about Times New Roman, but I disagree with the idea that someone at the top should not have time to write a quick memo about trivialities if it bothers them.
Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
#474Calibri font has "I" and "l" the same, according to Wikipedia. A better font should avoid characters being too similar (such as "I" and "l" and "1"). Another issue is due to the font size and font metrics, how much space it will take up on the page, to be small enough to avoid wasting paper and ink but also not too small to read. So, there are multiple issues in choosing the fonts; however, Times New Roman and Calibr…
ha ha MAGA font. Only big letters
THE BEST LETTERS
Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
#475Our studio, LucasFonts, designed Calibri. Here are our CEO Luc(as) de Groot’s thoughts on the matter:
The decision to abandon Calibri on the grounds of it being a so-called “wasteful diversity font” is both amusing and regrettable. Calibri was specifically designed to enhance readability on modern computer screens and was selected by Microsoft in 2007 to replace Times New Roman as the default font in the Office suite. There were sound reasons for moving away from Times: Calibri performs exceptionally well at small sizes and on standard office monitors, whereas serif fonts like Times New Roman tend to appear more distorted. While serif fonts are well-suited to high-resolution displays, such as those found on modern smartphones, on typical office screens the serifs introduce unnecessary visual noise and can be particularly problematic for users with impaired vision, such as older adults.
Professional typography can be achieved with both serif and sans-serif fonts. However, Times New Roman—a typeface older than the current president—presents unique challenges. Originally crafted in Great Britain for newspaper printing, Times was optimised for paper, with each letterform meticulously cut and tested for specific sizes. In the digital era, larger size drawings were repurposed as models, resulting in a typeface that appears too thin and sharp when printed at high quality.
Serif fonts are often perceived as more traditional, but they are also more demanding to use effectively. While a skilled typographer can, in theory, produce excellent results with Times, using it in its default digital form is not considered professional practice.
Calibri, by contrast, incorporates extensive spacing adjustments and language-specific refinements. The digital version of Times New Roman, developed in the early days of computing, offers only minimal kerning and letter-pair adjustments. This is especially evident in words set in all capitals—such as “CHICAGO”—where the spacing is inconsistent: the letters “HIC” are tightly packed, while “CAG” are spaced too far apart. Microsoft cannot rectify these issues without altering the appearance of existing documents.
Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
#476Calibri font has "I" and "l" the same, according to Wikipedia. A better font should avoid characters being too similar (such as "I" and "l" and "1"). Another issue is due to the font size and font metrics, how much space it will take up on the page, to be small enough to avoid wasting paper and ink but also not too small to read. So, there are multiple issues in choosing the fonts; however, Times New Roman and Calibr…
I've always found serif fonts easier to read, although I prefer Baskerville over Times.
Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
#477Reuters calling the switch a "font" change instead of a typeface change is troubling, though consistent with a society that now casually refers to all pasta as "spaghetti". A typeface is the design; a font is its specific instance. This is basic knowledge, taught to children, houseplants, and most domesticated goats. A simple correction would stop this spiral, but Reuters appears committed to forging a bold new era i…
> This is basic knowledge, taught to children, houseplants, and most domesticated goats.
Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
#478Calibri was supposedly easier to read by people with disabilities. While this itself is debatable, that's not the reasoning behind the font switch. The mere attempt at making life easier for disadvantaged people is labeled DEI and as such cannot be tolerated by this administration.
More charitably, the signaling could be: “keep the government as small as possible, but no smaller than that”, i.e. use things that basically mostly work and quit expending resources addressing every edge case, particularly when it’s performative (slight font variations) rather than obvious (a ramp to get into a public building)
Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
#479Earlier quoted context omitted.
Calibri is woke?
The point being that if the change to Calibri has been done to improve accessibility (hence: inclusion) that makes it woke. Which is stupid, of course, especially considering that sans-serif fonts improve readability on screens for most people, not for a minority. EDIT: extraneous "don't" in the middle of a sentence
So what next? Wheelchair ramps? Seats for the elderly and the pregnant? Accessibility features don't displace or even inconvenience the majority in any manner. They only make facilities accessible to an additional crowd, who should be getting them as a matter of right in the first place. What's the end game here?
Re: Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
#480Earlier quoted context omitted.
The point being that if the change to Calibri has been done to improve accessibility (hence: inclusion) that makes it woke. Which is stupid, of course, especially considering that sans-serif fonts improve readability on screens for most people, not for a minority. EDIT: extraneous "don't" in the middle of a sentence
So what next? Wheelchair ramps? Seats for the elderly and the pregnant? Accessibility features don't displace or even inconvenience the majority in any manner. They only make facilities accessible to an additional crowd, who should be getting them as a matter of right in the first place. What's the end game here?
Cruelty is the point