Ryman Eco, a new font by stationary brand Ryman claims that its new font, which is available for free download, uses a third less ink and toner than standard fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman, Georgia and Verdana.
The company believes that if everyone used the new font, it would save over 490 million ink cartridges and could help lower CO2 emissions by over 6.5 million tons, the equivalent of 15 million barrels of oil every year.
“Recycling alone isn’t doing enough. So I am asking individuals and businesses, especially those who use print a lot in their day-to-day operations, to download Ryman Eco for free and make it their default print font. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do but could make a world of difference,” a senior company executive said.
The font has been designed by Monotype and Hogarth. Dan Rhatigan, Type Director at Monotype, explained the process. “The entire concept for Ryman Eco is about the final print experience and finding the perfect balance between saving ink, legibility and aesthetics.
The idea of more efficient fonts is not new. Dutch company Spranq released its Ecofont in 2008. In other approach to reducing the environmental impact of printing, software startup PrintEco developed a plug-in for commonly used browsers and applications such as Microsoft Office that automatically optimizes the content of documents to fit on a smaller number of pages — helping users save paper and reduce printing costs.
Ink is 15 percent of the carbon impact of a printed page. Adobe has tried something similar. It launched something called Lean Print, a software-only effort to squeeze efficiency with little effort on behalf of the user. Its impact is not known yet.
Watch Dan Rhatigan on Ryman Eco video https://vimeo.com/103907391
