Smart Sans是对Leslie（Sam）Smart的个人致敬，这个人是加拿大一家主要的排印公司聘用的第一位字体总监。Smart是20世纪的设计先驱，他提高了加拿大排印的标准。他和他的三个同行一起在多伦多建立了第一个Type Directors Club。

1998年Smart去世后，字体设计师Rod McDonald决定做点什么来纪念Smart的一生和成就。“我最初是想以Smart的名义设立一个奖学金，但是设计一款字体的想法很快就取代了这一想法，” Rod McDonald，“然而，当我决定设计一种字体时，它就变成了一个意料之中的结论，那就是它将是一种无衬线字体——没有其他原因，只是因为我喜欢Smart sans这个名字。”

McDonald的创作灵感来自两种字体。“如同成千上万的设计师一样，我热衷于Matthew Carter的Helvetica Compressed家族。而且，当我年轻的时候，我也喜欢Fred Lambert的Compacta，” McDonald说，“我想，也许会有一个小范围的地方可以取代这些‘老主力’，并且在此过程中，能够给这个流派带来更新鲜的外观。”

McDonald为Smart Sans家族绘制了三个字重，它们非常适合设置引人注目的标题以及功能强大的显示正文。双层的“g”使该设计活泼个性，而短短的“r”使字间距保持紧凑均衡。

Smart Sans是对优秀的字体设计的致敬之作，因为它提高了人们对精简无衬线字体的期望，Sam Smart会很高兴的。”

Smart Sans is a personal tribute to Leslie (Sam) Smart, the first type director to be hired by a major typesetting house in Canada. Smart was a twentieth century design pioneer who raised the standards of Canadian typography. Together with three of his peers, he established the first Type Directors Club in Toronto.

After Smart's death in 1998, type designer Rod McDonald decided that something should be done to commemorate Smart's life and achievements. I had first thought of establishing a scholarship in Sam's name, but a typeface design soon replaced this idea," says McDonald. "Once I decided to design a typeface, however, it became a foregone conclusion that it would be a sans serif - for no other reason than that I loved the name Smart Sans."

Two typefaces served as inspiration for McDonald's work. "Like thousands of designers, I'm keen on Matthew Carter's Helvetica Compressed series. And, when I was younger, I also loved Fred Lambert's Compacta," says McDonald. "I thought there might be a place for a small range that could take over from these 'old workhorses' and, in the process, bring a fresher look to the genre."

McDonald drew three weights for the Smart Sans family, all ideally suited for setting attention-getting headlines and powerful display copy. The two-storied 'g' contributes to the design's lively personality, and the short 'r' helps maintain tight, even spacing.

Smart Sans is the perfect homage to a great typographer, because it raises the bar on what to expect from condensed sans serif typefaces. Sam Smart would be pleased."