Fun with fonts

*First appeared in the Oct. 8 edition of the Laurel Chronicle newspaper

A couple of weeks ago, a friend sent me a link to some interesting news from our neighboring state (the one that has counties, not parishes). It was a story about potential cost-savings achieved by changing the font used in official government mailings. Intriguing, right?

You could say Alabamans are trying to get with the modern times (New Roman).

According to the political website Yellowhammernews.com, taxpayers could reap at least $300,000 in annual savings by switching from Times New Roman to Garamond, based on information provided to a state legislator by the Alabama Legislative Fiscal Office.

State senator Slade Blackwell, a Republican, told Yellowhammer that Alabama “would save between 20 percent and 30 percent on ink and toner every year. Taxpayers expect us to be good stewards of their money...This is another great opportunity for us to continue streamlining and downsizing state government.”

The state reports spending about $1.5 million each year through state agency ink and toner contracts, with public higher education institutions spending even more, approximately $3.2 million annually. Switching to Garamond is expected to shave about 25 percent of these costs. More savings could be achieved by including local governing bodies, such as cities and counties.

Sen. Blackwell confirmed to Yellowhammer that he will sponsor legislation in 2015 mandating the use of Garamond for internal printing at agencies, departments, institutions, and other governmental bodies.

According to Yellowhammer, the idea seems to have come from an unlikely source: A sixth-grader conducting a school science project. The Pittsburg, Penn. student found that his school district could save $21,000 by switching fonts. Teachers were so impressed with his project that they encouraged him to send the research to Harvard, which in turn urged him to send the research to the federal government.

Uncle Sam could save about $400 million by adopting Garamond, according to the student. But others say those figures aren’t true, since contracts are often written on a per-page basis, regardless of ink and toner used.

Additionally, there are some very detailed ways in which ink output per font is measured, and experts say Garamond isn’t as legible as Time New Roman when put at the same point font. This means Garamond would have to be printed larger in order to achieve maximum legibility, thus negating any potential cost-savings.

By the way, here is a little background on our dueling fonts. According to the always-reliable Wikipedia, British newspaper The Times commissioned a new font in 1931 after criticism the paper was badly printed and typographically antiquated. The result was known as – you guessed it – Times New Roman. Garamond, on the other hand, is a reference to its creator, French publisher and punch-cutter Claude Garamont. Several contemporary fonts, including Granjon and Sabon, reflect his influence.

After writing all of that, I officially feel like a font nerd.

Alabama isn’t the only state looking at fonts. Apparently Missouri is considering a similar bill. Could Mississippi be next?

Only time will tell whether this idea has merit – and if the Magnolia State stands to benefit from this unique approach to printing. In an age of governance where every idea (good or bad) has a political overtone, it’s unusual to stumble upon something as truly apolitical as font style.