Frutiger and Univers

Adrka Frutiger is a famous, well-known type-designer. The fonts that he has produced are quite popular, and most people use them daily. Frutiger was born in Switzerland. As a teenager, he worked for printer’s apprentice near his hometown. Later on Frutiger decided to move to Zurich so that he could study at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts. This is where he started to delve into the art world.

Frutiger decided to move, once again, and he found work at Deberny and Peignot typefoundry. There, he helped the company move classic types to newer phototypesetting technologies. While doing this, Frutiger was creating typefaces of his own. As his typefaces grew in popularity, his name grew in popularity as a type designer. A few typefaces that Frutiger created are the following: Avenir, Frutiger, Univers, Didot, Serifa, Apollo,  and Courier New. In some of his recent collaborations, Frutiger Next and Avenir Next were created.

Today, his typefaces are found just about anywhere, and millions of people use them everyday. His typefaces are readily available. Frutiger was quite creative when it came to type, and he changed the entire type design world with his work. He is currently living in Bern, Switzerland and experimenting with woodcuts.

Frutiger created the Univers typeface in 1956.  What makes the Univers grid so "unique" is that usual typefaces use different weights and variations within their type families and are labeled by the use of numbers rather than names; however, in the Univers family, the typeface names include both number and names.