Microsoft Design Changes Include New Azure Icon and New Default Font -- Redmondmag.com

Microsoft Design Changes Include New Azure Icon and New Default Font

By Kurt Mackie
05/07/2021

Microsoft is changing its Azure icon from its current cluster of four squares to a blue "A" image.

The new blue Azure icon will get added across Microsoft's sites "in the coming weeks," a Friday announcement indicated. This new design is deemed to be in accord with Microsoft's Fluent Design System approach and it's seen as aligning Azure with other Microsoft icon designs currently in use.

Here's the new Azure icon:

And here's the current Azure icon:

Microsoft is seeking public comments on the Azure icon design change via this feedback forum. One person has already offered feedback on the new icon in this Twitter thread, indicating that the new Azure icon looks like the Autodesk icon.

Here's the Autodesk icon:

In other design news, Microsoft indicated last month that it was seeking public comments on which of five new fonts it commissioned from font designers should become its next default font. This new default font will become part of various Microsoft products, such as the Microsoft Office suite.

The new fonts -- Tenorite, Bierstadt, Skeena, Seaford, and Grandview -- are designed according to the sans-serif style. One of them will replace Calibri, the current default font. Microsoft earlier had favored Times New Roman, but replaced it with Calibri in 2007.

Microsoft is seeking public comments via this Twitter thread on the favorite new default font. It's not an elimination contest, since fonts less favored will still be available in Microsoft's software.

Also last month, Microsoft indicated that its coming Visual Studio 2022 product will use the new Cascadia Code fixed-width font, plus newly updated icons. Those design changes have already elicited public comments, as described in this Visual Studio Magazine article.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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