5 years in the making, Google and Monotype have launch their open-source typeface named Noto (short for no tofu, where little square appears on the screen when the font is not supported).
The span of this assignment is extensive – researchers, designers, linguists and cultural experts were involved and consulted. The result is a harmonious look and feel, with over 800 languages and 100 written scripts. Numbers, symbols, musical notations and even emoji haven’t been neglected too.
The project is an initiative from Google to create an unified font where there would be no unknown character. For lesser used languages, like those carved on stones, it’s even more important to preserve them.
Kamal Mansour, linguistic typographer at Monotype, sums it up, “So to me, the aim is to serve that human community that would otherwise be deprived of the ability to have a digital heritage.”
Google and Monotype can give themselves a pat on the back. But there’s still work to be done. While the sans serif family is done, the serif is still being developed.