Battle of the typeface as US department ousts Calibri

Marco Rubio has ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman in official communication, branding the adoption of Calibri by his predecessor Antony Blinken as a “wasteful” diversity move, according to an internal department cable sent on 9 December seen by Reuters.

The department had switched to Calibri in 2023 under the Biden administration as the font was said to be more accessible for people with certain visual disabilities, due to its lack of decorative angular features.

The return to Times New Roman marked a return to “professionalism”, the state department cable declared.

The cable said: “To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface.”

The creator of Calibri typeface responded to the move after it fell victim to the administration’s attack on ‘woke’ font.

Speaking to The Times, Calibri designer Lucas de Groot said the switch was a “bad choice” and dismissed any accusations that his font was “woke” as “politics”.

“It is designed to be friendly. So if Rubio thinks it’s inclusive, he’s right. It’s a compliment of course,” said de Groot.

That either of these typefaces should be the subject of American political wrangling is elevating them above their status, Professor of Typography at Birmingham City University, Caroline Archer-Parré, told Printweek.

“Who would have thought that people would get so het up about two of the most overused and dull typefaces available,” commented Archer-Parré.

“Both Calibri and Times New Roman have, at different times, been long-time default typefaces of Microsoft, a role which has made them appear outdated and boring.”

No typeface is “woke”, Archer-Parré added, with the term purely a political projection, “imbuing it with characteristics that are not there”.

She also argued that no typeface had been proven to be easier to read for people with disabilities or accessibility issues, with legibility dependent on a number of factors including spacing, size of type and colour contrast.

Archer-Parré said: “A typeface works with these other elements to provide maximum legibility for the reader, so it is inaccurate to claim one typeface is more legible than another - it is how it is used that maximises legibility.”

The internal department cable went on to argue that Times New Roman reflected a more formal font, compared to Calibri. 

The cable stated: “This formatting standard aligns with the President’s One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations directive, underscoring the Department’s responsibility to present a unified, professional voice in all communications.”

Archer-Parré also questioned why the administration had not chosen to go with an American produced typeface.  

“If Trump's aim is to 'Make America Great Again', why not use a typeface designed in the US? There are so many great contemporary American designers producing great American typefaces – surely that would have been a better choice,” commented Archer-Parré.

(Source: PrintWeek)