Measuring Type

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Matt Robinson in collaboration with Tom Wrigglesworth compared a selection of the most commonly used typefaces for how economical they are with the amount of ink which they use at the same point size. Large scale renditions of the typefaces were drawn out with ballpoint pens, allowing the remaining ink levels to display the ink efficiency of each typeface. Measuring Type.

(via core77)

13 Comments leave a comment below

  1. i went to uni with these guys! nice ones guys!

    mariess
    Dec 17th, 2009 / 10:13 am

  2. Cool idea!! I like this.

    Drew Poland
    Dec 17th, 2009 / 1:04 pm

  3. …which means that us cheapskates/environmentalists should print everything in Garamond :D Very happy Comic Sans didn’t win!

    Anja
    Dec 17th, 2009 / 2:36 pm

  4. Then there’s Eco Font, which is Veranda with a bunch of holes cut in it. The natural dot-gain of inkjet printers fills it in for you.

    kvh
    Dec 17th, 2009 / 2:50 pm

  5. This really makes me want to do my own testing.

    WMDunkin
    Dec 17th, 2009 / 2:51 pm

  6. I think it’s a mistake to compare at equal point sizes – it’s an irrelevant comparison. What Courier might save on ink, it will surely make for in additional paper. And not all type of a particular point size will be the same size when printed. One thing is true, however: Comic Sans wastes heaps of ink and paper. Take that however you please.

    Jacob
    Dec 17th, 2009 / 4:20 pm

  7. Kvh, that font is awesome. I’m so glad you’ve posted that, its the first I have seen this font. I am going to give it a try and see how well it does on my printer. Has anyone tested how much ink it can potentially save? They say 20% on the site, but I don’t really see any sources to back it up. If you know anymore that would be great.

    Drew Poland
    Dec 18th, 2009 / 12:57 am

  8. Pretty dull choice of typefaces.

    Sandro
    Dec 18th, 2009 / 9:36 am

  9. FYI, EcoFont is just a re-worked screen font (Prima Sans developed for Netscape). Secondly it actually uses 30% MORE ink than Garamond. See here: http://farlukar.110mb.com/stuff.php#ecofont

    If you really want to save ink (and paper!) check this out: http://typographica.org/001087.php

    Jacob
    Dec 18th, 2009 / 9:58 am

  11. I’d like to see wing dings added to the experiment, because as is, it’s not quite silly enough.

    Al
    Dec 19th, 2009 / 7:22 pm

  12. Hilarious! I love it

    annabelly_
    Jan 22nd, 2010 / 5:21 pm

  13. Call me crazy but that guy in the picture looks so damn hot! Look at that ass! I wanna rip his pants off right now lol

    Dave
    Jan 25th, 2010 / 5:45 am