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Planet-friendly design tips for earth month and beyond

To celebrate Earth Month, we’re passing on some tips for you to make more sustainable choices when it comes to design and print. Read on to discover some surprising methods to reduce your negative impact on the planet.

A white background with bright orange text stating that Ryman Eco is a font that uses on average 33% less ink that standard fonts

#1 – Use eco-friendly fonts

Yes, fonts can be eco-friendly! Look out for light weights, sans serif fonts, or even better, use typefaces that are specially designed to be more sustainable. But what actually makes these fonts better for the planet? Typefaces like Ryman Eco (which is a 100% free font for personal or commercial use) use less ink when printed due to the gaps in the lines. You can go a step further by reducing font sizing; smaller fonts mean more words can fit on a page, reducing the amount of paper you need to use.

A dark grey background showing the bottom half of an iphone on the brightness setting showing that night mode is switched on

#2 – Optimise for dark mode

Ensuring websites and apps are compatible with dark mode settings improves the user experience and reduces eye strain. Not only that, but it also reduces battery consumption on OLED screens. This lower energy usage equals a smaller digital carbon footprint, so it’s a win regardless.

Multiple white sheets of paper overlapping each other

#3 – Thoughtful paper choices

Opting for 250gsm paper instead of 300gsm can make a surprising impact on your carbon footprint without having too much of a noticeable effect on the finished product. This reduces shipping weight (and cost) and saves energy during manufacturing. Consider swapping to more sustainable papers made from recycled paper, or even coffee grounds. For specialist printed items that need a heavier weight paper, use the opportunity to explore unique papers that tell your brand story, like seeded paper for a gardening company.

A light grey background showing an apple mac with the navigation menu for the Castlemead Hotel website

#4 – Utilise white space

Negative space is a useful design device that often creates a sleek and minimal look and feel to digital and print design. Aside from looking good, it’s also a great way to reduce ink consumption on printed items. Plus, less ink per page results in less chemicals being used during the recycling process. 

A close up image of some computing code

#5 – Digital cleanup

Optimising web assets and ensuring website and app code is clean reduces server energy usage. Upload images in web-friendly formats like webp to keep file sizes low while retaining quality, and remove any unnecessary code to keep your website fast and as sustainable as possible.