Ecofont is the name of a
TrueType
TrueType is an outline font standard developed by Apple in the late 1980s as a competitor to Adobe's Type 1 fonts used in PostScript. It has become the most common format for fonts on the classic Mac OS, macOS, and Microsoft Windows operating sy ...
font family, an application program for
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, and a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
business firm.
Ecofont Vera Sans (originally called Eco Sans) was developed by SPRANQ in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
in order to reduce ink consumption when printing. Each character in the font contains tiny holes. SPRANQ claims that this reduces the amount of ink needed by approximately 15 percent when compared to the
Vera Sans family on which Ecofont Sans is based.
The Ecofont
application program
Application may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks
** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...
(formerly marketed as "Ecofont Professional") inserts small holes in other fonts in order to reduce ink consumption.
Both the software and the Ecofont Sans fonts are distributed and sold by Ecofont BV, based in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
.
History
Ecofont Vera Sans was originally designed as an ink saving alternative to the
Verdana
Verdana is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter for Microsoft Corporation, with hand-hinting done by Thomas Rickner, then at Monotype. Demand for such a typeface was recognized by Virginia Howlett of Microsoft's typography ...
typeface.
Ecofont Vera Sans saved 20% more ink when compared to Bitstream Vera Sans in a 2010 test. However, both
sans-serif
In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than seri ...
fonts used more ink than most typical
serif
In typography, a serif () is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface ...
fonts.
In 2011, Ecofont claimed that a reproducible test comparing Arial with Ecofont Arial showed ink savings of 28%.
Awards
The Eco Sans font received the European Environmental Design Award 2010 from DiMAD in Spain.
Ecofont received the Accenture Innovation Award 2011 in the category Consumer Products, the Sprout Challenger Award in 2012 and the SMEs Innovation Top 100 in 2013.
References
External links
* {{official website, http://www.ecofont.com/
Display typefaces
Printing and the environment
Sans-serif typefaces
Typefaces and fonts introduced in 2009