National Geographic Society
P.O. Box 98199
Washington, DC 20090-8199
800-647-5463
Lat/Lon: 38.90531943278526, -77.0376992225647
Inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888
RSS Syndication
Are you a green type? The new Ecofont, from the Dutch marketing firm Spranq, aims to be one. Co-owner Alexander Kraaij says it uses less ink than other typefaces, thus saving money and resources. In fact, he contends, a company with 5,000 workers could trim up to $125,000 a year from its printing costs.
The circles are the secret. Spranq found that if it used rounded holes—stars and stripes were too conspicuous—a fifth of a 10-point, Verdana-like letter could be removed without ruining readability. Savings shrink at smaller sizes; holes are obvious at larger ones.
Still, legibility isn’t the same as likability. Font scholar Frank Romano dismisses the Ecofont as a gimmick, unsuitable for serif typefaces and inexact ink-jet printers. He also thinks its cheeselike holes are an eyesore: “If I wanted Swiss type, I would use Helvetica.” Kraaij says that’s hardly the point. While a professional, multialphabet Ecofont is available for publishing, the original is intended primarily for home and internal office jobs. “Even if its use is limited,” says Alissa Levin of Manhattan’s Point Five Design, “it makes you think hard about ink, not just paper and printers.” —Jeremy Berlin
LESS IS MORE
Based on a typeface
called Bitstream Vera,
the Ecofont tends to
look best at about 10
points—a bit bigger than
the words in the main
text on this page. It can
be downloaded for free
at ecofont.eu.
Subscribe to RSS feed
My Shot
Daily Dozen
Voting Machine
Puzzles
Desktop Wallpaper
Buy NG Photos
Special Issues
Comments
Post a Comment