by D. Sproul | April 16th, 2010
Most of us would become upset upon finding a hole in something: our favorite sweater, those broken-in jeans…But there is one case where holes turns out to be a plus:
The typeface Ecofont, 2010 Winner of the European Environmental Design Award, saves up to 25% printer ink simply by adding holes in printed type. Ecofont claims this is not noticeable in small type letters, usually up to 11 point (pt.). (Newsletter body text is often printed around 11-12 pt. type.)
Does It Work?
I printed out their test PDF page from the home version web page, and it looks really good. The note at the bottom says the printed version that it will look better than the PDF test. However, even the PDF looked really good. I can barely see the small holes if I look very closely, 6″ or closer. However, when viewed from 7″ or further away, your mind fills in the letters’ black, much like when viewing pointillist paintings (“Seurat the dot“), television’s three color system, or other vision tricks.
How It Works:
The ecofont software is downloaded and installed, and then you can choose any of your normal fonts in the eco-version. It seems to just change how your computer prints the letters. So 11pt and smaller text would be printed using the ecofont, and larger type sizes are printed in the normal font version (without holes).
There are small business (up to 100 computers), large business (100+ computers), and home versions for sale. The home/personal computing price is 15 Euros for a three year contract. Business contracts run about the same, but discounts seem to be available for larger contracts with more computers. Prices are not listed for businesses with over one hundred workstations, but you may request a quote. View Ecofont pricing page here.
To find out more, and print out a font sample online, visit the Ecofont website.
What a great idea, and so easy to implement! Its an easy way to help the environment, and save money on ink cartridges at the same time.
