The font wars: what the forced return to Times New Roman reveals

Fonts are not neutral. This may seem strange, since from an early age, we learn not to really notice it. And yet, a huge part of our potential relationship with an object or document passes through typography.

After all, typographers are designers, which means they draw on purpose. The idea is not only to be understandable, but also to evoke emotion. That's why butcher's signs use Gothic to evoke a touch of product authenticity, perfumes will use more cursive typefaces to evoke elegance, and so on.

As a result, this has repercussions as far as politics. The Trump administration has decided to attack all symbols of inclusivity, including the Calibri font found in federal communications under the Biden administration. Marco Rubio has called for the reuse of the Times New Roman serif font, seen as more noble.

This type of debate also took place under the Nazi regime. Futura, a popular German typeface, was seen by the government as a Bolshevization of Reich script. As a result, they adopted Fraktur, a font reminiscent of tradition, even of the Middle Ages. But they realized that it was very difficult for ordinary people to decipher. As a result, they're back to Futura.

Is this what will happen with Calibri in the United States? It's hard to say. For one thing, the typeface isn't all that inclusive and easy to read for the visually impaired, since the upper-case "I" and the lower-case "l" are similar: they're two sticks. The same goes for the "o" and the "0", which look very similar. On the other hand, Times New Roman, a typeface that originated in the newspaper industry, has not aged well with digital technology. As soon as it's larger than 10 points (the format in which it was digitized), its serifs are too wide and the letter too mushy.

Running time: 8min20

Image by AI (Copilot): "the war between Calibri and Times New Roman fonts".