About OCR-B Machine Readable
OCR-B is the monospaced face Adrian Frutiger drew in 1968 for ECMA and the world ratified in 1973 — the digits under every barcode, the two lines at the foot of a passport, a shape engineered for optical scanners yet still legible to the eye.
This system reads that machine-vision heritage as a scanner console: cyan phosphor characters glowing on a deep, dark teal field. Everything is fixed-pitch, tabular, and lit from within — a single luminous hue over an unlit ground, never neon clutter.
- Origin
- Switzerland
- Era
- 1968 (design); ISO/ECMA standard 1973
- Key figures
- Adrian Frutiger
- Movements
- Optical character recognition · Mid-century standards-body type design
OCR-B Machine Readable design spec
Colors
Background
Surface
Primary
Secondary
Accent
Text
Typography
Space MonoHeadings
IBM Plex MonoBody
Fira MonoMono
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Styles similar to OCR-B Machine Readable
Also inspired by print & type, with a close feel.
Data 70 Techno DisplayThe machine speaks in light. Cyan CRT type burns through a gridded blue-black console.
Manila LVN Film PosterLobby-card drama for the screen. Cream slab title on poster-black, scarlet banners, gilt rules.
The Great Gatsby (1925)Gilded glamour courts collapse. Deco symmetry burns gold on midnight, with one green light.
Algerian Casbah Poster (1954–1962)Every surface is a manifesto. Blood red, warning yellow, and stencil type hit black newsprint.