Replacing ink-heavy Times New Roman typeface with Garamond can save millions

The calculation by the Indian-origin teenager that the US government would save $136 million a year on document printing, and another $234 million if the state followed suit, by substituting the ink-heavy Times New Roman typeface with the lighter Garamond — based on observation of his school’s printing practices — deserves serious consideration.

Perhaps this simple solution of font substitution would not have eluded adult number-crunchers and budget experts had they paid closer attention to their Dr Seuss books as kids and perused the Harry Potter series more carefully in later years as both famously use variants of Garamond.

With its finances already constrained, India would do well to not ignore the possibilities of this remarkably easy costcutting measure either, especially since it has the added complication of having to churn out printed material in many serif-intensive regional languages. While the need to print anything on paper at all may soon become a moot point, in the meantime, major savings across the board can be effected by launching a strong campaign for brevity in communication in every sphere as governments are not the only entities prone to long-winded printed perorations. But then, election season may not be the best time to encourage or enforce the practice of succinct dissemination