Web Fonts by Monotype

The Economist builds on heritage with its digital typography

Making the transition online meant the publication had to carefully consider how all aspects of its identity would be replicated digitally, including its fonts. The Economist has used a specially designed family of typefaces since May 1991. The font family selected had to respond well to electronic transmission and the different printing conditions at the publication’s seven international production sites. In a recent re-design, Monotype’s Officina typeface was introduced for cover headlines and all navigational information. Ecotype, The Economist’s main typeface, was also redrawn to make it easier to read.

The Economist is a prestigious international publication with a weekly circulation of over 1.6 million. Offering readers analysis and opinion on worldwide issues, it aims to cover the main business and political events of the week. Going to press on Thursdays it is printed simultaneously in five different countries and is available in most of the world’s main cities the following day. Readers across the globe receive the same editorial content, except in the United Kingdom, where extra pages are devoted to British news.

All articles are anonymous as the publication seeks to speak with a collective voice stemming from the belief that it is what is written which is important, not who writes it. This ethos is carried through to its digital offerings which launched a decade ago, starting with its web offering Economist.com in 2002.

With over nine million monthly unique users accessing digital content online, the publication has expanded its reader experience to include a number of apps designed for Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows 8. The Economist has over 650,000 devices accessing the apps weekly, cementing the publication’s expansion into digital.

Company Background

In 2010, the publication decided it needed to upgrade its digital offering for readers with tablets and smartphones, so the company teamed up with Monotype who provided the Web friendly typefaces for its iPad app. In 2012 The Economist again called on Monotype to recreate the same experience for apps on the BlackBerry Playbook with the intention of rolling this out on other devices including Android, iOS and Windows 8. Having spent decades perfecting the print publication, maintaining a high level of readability and reader experience of its digital assets was of paramount importance. App content needed to

align with that of the print magazine to maintain consistency and live up to user expectations, whilst providing a collectable, containable addition to the website. With a well-established audience to consider, Neelay Patel, VP Commercial Strategy & Product for The Economist Group was tasked with delivering the new apps powered by HTML5.

Challenge

“ Our intention was to build beautiful, functional apps that embodied the spirit of the magazine and satisfied the readers’ needs. Reproducing the website experience in an app format would have been pointless. From the start we knew we had to play to the strengths of the newspaper looking at the project as a digestible alternative to and not replacement for the website.”

Neelay Patel VP Commercial Strategy & Product The Economist Group

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During development of the new apps, the team knew it needed to maximise digital functionality and ensure consistency and realised it would need to implement Web Fonts to achieve this. The desired font was Monotype’s Ecotype. Monotype‘s Web Fonts team was able to advise

on updating content and how its implementation would affect users accessing the apps on the various devices.

Solution ITC Officina

Neelay Patel VP Commercial Strategy & Product The Economist Group

“ Monotype supplied us with a solution that tied in to exactly what we were hoping to achieve. The team was able to provide the tools to enable us to complete development of the apps as scheduled. In the past we’ve agonised over the readability of content especially when it comes to apps. In print we’ve had years to hone the optimal reading experience. Transferring that to our apps and transitioning typefaces into digital has been one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced in the last decade. As our readers continue to adopt new and exciting ways to communicate so must we. We want and need to be everywhere our readers are, giving them the best possible chance to maintain and complete their weekly Economist experience.”

“ We are very pleased with the results which will open new doors for readers hoping to access our content on these digital devices. We look forward to exploring more possibilities with Monotype, such as our updated iPhone app which we will be rolling out in the coming months, as we continue to find new ways to expand the reach of our content with readers”

Benefits

“ The Economist is a global powerhouse renowned for its journalistic integrity. It’s great to see them embracing new and exciting ways to enhance the quality of their reader experiences in the digital age. With more and more content traversing online networks it’s important to find a balance between adopting these and maintaining the spirit of traditional print mediums. Web Fonts are a key part in helping this transition.”

Mandy Beechey / Sales Director, Europe Monotype

Web Fonts have provided The Economist with the ability to make their content available to new and existing audiences on other digital platforms and the response so far has been highly positive.

Neelay Patel VP Commercial Strategy & Product The Economist Group