Aptos, originally named Bierstadt, is a sans-serif typeface in the neo-grotesque style developed by Steve Matteson.[3] It was released in 2023 as the new default font for the Microsoft Office suite, replacing the previously used Calibri font.[4]
 | |
| Category | Sans-serif |
|---|---|
| Classification | Neo-grotesque[1] |
| Designer(s) | Steve Matteson |
| Commissioned by | Microsoft |
| Foundry | Microsoft Corporation |
| Date created | 2019[2] |
| Date released | 2023 |
| License | Proprietary |
| Design based on | Helvetica Arial |
| Also known as | Bierstadt |
Aptos, as well as its siblings Aptos Display, Aptos Narrow, Aptos Mono (a monospaced font), and Aptos Serif (serif font) are available to Microsoft 365 subscribers via Microsoft's cloud service.[5]
Characteristics
editAptos is available in the following styles: Light, Light Italic, Regular, Italic, Semibold, Semibold Italic, Bold, Bold Italic, Extrabold, Extrabold Italic, Black, and Black Italic.
The typeface has several distinct characteristics which make the typeface easily readable.[6][7]
- It has horizontal and vertical stroke endings based on Helvetica as opposed to the slanted stroke ending of Arial.
- It removed the distinctive tail of the lowercase letter "a" and added it to the lowercase letter "l" (L), as in the lowercase letter "t", which prevents confusion with the uppercase letter "I" (i).
- The shapes of the uppercase letters in "O" and "R" and the lowercase letter "a" are slightly irregular.
- It has a double-story lowercase letter "g" with an angled stem instead of the single-story letter, as in Helvetica, and the uppercase letter "G" is rounded and has no spur.
- Little swing tail of uppercase letter "R".
- Lowercase letters "b", "c", and "p" and the uppercase letter "C" have wide contours.
- It has circular dots in punctuation marks, diacritics, and lowercase letters "i" and "j" as opposed to the square dots in Arial and Helvetica.
- The curved top flag of the numeral "1" is based on Arial.
- Slanted stem of the numeral "7".
- The curved tail of the uppercase letter "Q" meets its bowl.
Aptos includes characters from Latin, Latin Extended, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts. The italics of Aptos have been individually redrawn, rather than mechanically slanted. The italic does not have cursive forms except Cyrillic scripts, where the letter shapes are oblique forms of the upright letters, as opposed to the true italic form of Calibri.[8]
History
editAptos was originally named Bierstadt, after Mount Bierstadt of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.[6] It is based on typical Swiss fonts from the middle of the 20th century. The font was intended to evoke a sense of the Helvetica and Arial fonts.[6] It was introduced in 2021 alongside four other fonts (Grandview, Seaford, Skeena and Tenorite) for the Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 applications. As a result, Bierstadt was considered a potential successor to the Microsoft Office standard font Calibri, which had been introduced in 2007.[9]
In July 2023, Microsoft announced that Bierstadt would succeed Calibri, although it would have slightly modified kerning and leading and was renamed after Aptos, California.[4][10]
Availability
editAptos, Aptos Display, Aptos Narrow, Aptos Mono, and Aptos Serif, along with the original Bierstadt, Grandview, Seaford, Skeena and Tenorite are available to Microsoft 365 subscribers via Microsoft's cloud service.[5] A locally installed version of Aptos is also available from Microsoft.[11]
References
edit- ^ Mather, Victor. "Microsoft Word's Subtle Typeface Change Affected Millions. Did You Notice?". New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ Baine, Wallace (July 16, 2023). "From topography to typography: How a graphic designer's love of Aptos inspired the next ubiquitous commercial typeface". Lookout Santa Cruz. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ Warren, Tom (July 13, 2023). "Meet Microsoft Office's new default font: Aptos". The Verge. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
- ^ a b Daniels, Si (July 13, 2023). "A change of typeface: Microsoft's new default font has arrived". Medium. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
- ^ a b "Cloud fonts in Office". Microsoft. November 6, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
- ^ a b c Matteson, Steve (May 13, 2021). "A Closer Look at Bierstadt (the new font design – not 'Beer-Town'". Matteson Typographics. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ Daniels, Si (February 28, 2024). "Behind the design: A deep dive into Aptos". Medium. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ Microsoft Learn (January 20, 2024). "Aptos Font Family". Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ "Beyond Calibri: Finding Microsoft's next default font". Microsoft 365 Blog. Microsoft. April 28, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
- ^ Valentino, Silas (May 23, 2024). "Aptos is world famous, but nobody in the Calif. town knows why". SFGATE. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
- ^ "Microsoft Aptos Fonts". Download Center. Microsoft. April 6, 2024.