Italian studio redesigns website for reduced carbon emissions

The website now uses small images, basic typefaces and a logo created from standard Unicode symbols, all of which require less energy to load on computers and smartphones

Spotted: A collaboration between Italian design duo Formafantasma and Italian agency Studio Blanco has launched a website that requires fewer carbon dioxide emissions to visit than most sites. Formafantasma founders, Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin said that the project started from a personal drive to address the growing amount of carbon pollution connected to the internet.

Instead of following graphic design trends, the website is designed to be as energy-efficient as possible. The visual language is inspired by pared-back early websites, and its functional influence is drawn from Wikipedia.

The site initially loads small images, as they require less energy to download than large ones. Users then have the option to enlarge the images if they wish. 

The site also uses standard System typefaces, which are preinstalled on most devices. This reduces the number of HTTP requests required to load more complicated fonts. As for the logo, it was created using a string of generic Unicode symbols which can be displayed on any device without having to download an image file. 

“It is, by all means, a green logo. If it is used in an email signature, no JPEG file is necessary,” says Studio Blanco. If visitors wish to further reduce emissions, they can also switch from the default white background to a dark mode, with a black background instead. 

The final sustainable cherry is provided by the site’s host, GreenGeeks, a platform that uses renewable energy to power its servers.

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