Font Innovation Wins

VML, Intel, and Frere-Jones Type are proud to announce their recognition at the prestigious Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards for their collaborative project, "Intel One Mono," also known as “The Font that Saves Eyes.” This innovative typeface, designed to enhance legibility and reduce eyestrain for developers, has been awarded:

Winner of the Type Design category
Honorable mention in the Accessible Design category

Intel One Mono was born out of a need to improve the day-to-day work lives of developers, especially those facing vision impairments. Intel developers asked for a branded coding typeface to accompany the rebranding of Intel, presenting an opportunity to go beyond creating a standard monospace font. The project aimed to tackle issues of accessibility and legibility specifically for the developer community, who spend hours intensely focused on screen text and code.

Our goal was to craft a font that's more accessible, enhancing legibility to ease eyestrain and improving the coding experience for every developer, especially those facing vision impairments. Research showed that, while a variety of typeface design projects have tackled issues of accessibility and legibility for general readers, none have explicitly attempted to improve legibility and tackle eyestrain for the developer community — those who spend hours intensely focused on screen text and need it most.

Robb Smigielski

Chief Design Officer, VML

The Intel One Mono typeface was developed with input from a panel of low-vision and legally blind developers, who tested the font and provided feedback throughout the design process. This collaborative approach ensured the creation of a typeface that is not only functional but also significantly improves the coding experience by reducing eyestrain and enhancing readability.

Intel is one of the largest employers of developers in the world and has a large developer audience. So, to serve them, we wanted to expand the Intel One family of fonts and provide a truly authentic tool that can be used every day.

Melissa Evers

VP, Software and Advanced Technology Group, Intel

The Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards, now in their 13th year, recognize the best design minds across industries and disciplines. The 2024 awards honor the designers and businesses solving the most crucial problems of today and anticipating the pressing issues of tomorrow. With 50 categories capturing every facet of design, the competition is one of the most sought-after design awards in the industry. Winners are chosen through a rigorous, monthlong judging process involving multiple rounds of evaluation by a team of editors and experts.

The winners and finalists of the Innovation by Design Awards will be featured in the Summer print issue of Fast Company, on newsstands July 30.

For more information about Intel One Mono, check out the article about the work on Fast Company.com.

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