Adrian Frutiger has spent decades working very closely with Linotype. In the many years of this fruitful collaboration, we’ve accumulated a number of photographs of Adrian Frutiger. These images show glimpses of the different periods and highlights of his life so far, including pictures of him working in his studio, moments of him along with his typefaces, and even more recent shots of him working together with Akira Kobayashi.
We hope that you enjoy browsing through these images.
Frutiger® – the sans serif classic.
Get the original from Linotype as single fonts, in a Value Pack, or on CD.
About Frutiger
Famous type designer Adrian Frutiger created a masterpiece with this typeface. Faced with the challenge of designing an exceptionally legible type for the signs of the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, he developed the now legendary Frutiger in 1968. The original Linotype typeface has since been expanded to include 14 weights and is of course not just
[...]Pierre Simon Fournier – born 15. 9. 1712 in Paris, France, died 8. 10. 1768 in Paris, France – type founder, punch cutter, type designer – known as Fournier le Jeune.
Trains at the company of his father, Jean Claude Fournier. 1737: develops a typographical system of measures which F. A. Didot reworks. 1739: opens his own type foundry. 1742: publishes a book of type specimens which is printed by J. J. Barbou. In total, Fournier cuts 60,000 punches for c. 150 of his own alphabets. 1760:
[...]Über die Lesbarkeit
Unter dem Einfluss der verschieden Druckverfahren hat die lateinische Textschrift subtile Formveränderungen erfahren. Grundsätzlich neue Formen sind jedoch keine entstanden. Als Demonstration dafür sind acht a in den meistgelesenen Schriftstilen mit einem Drehraster versehen und übereinander kopiert. Das Resultat zeigt eine erstaunliche Übereinstimmung.
Portrait
We can read because we perceive elements and forms which are familiar to us. So in order to even recognize words, we must first decipher the elements which make up the shapes of the letters – a process which involves the interplay of myriad aspects. To a certain degree, many of us are aware of these aspects. Yet Adrian Frutiger knows about such shifting dynamics in perception in a way no other person can, as he has been instrumental in researching the subject and over several decades
[...]OCR™
OCR A and OCR B are standardized, monospaced fonts designed for "Optical Character Recognition" on electronic devices. OCR A was developed to meet the standards set by the American National Standards Institute in 1966 for the processing of documents by banks, credit card companies and similar businesses. This font was intended to be "read" by scanning devices, and not necessarily by humans. However, because of its "techno" look, it has been re-discovered for advertising and display
[...]
Font Designer: Adrian Frutiger, 1984
The origins of the font Versailles™ go back to the 19th century in France when, with the introduction of lithography, alphabets could contain freer forms. The basic forms are Modern Face with triangular serifs. The direct influence for Versailles was the writing on the back of the memorial to Charles Garnier, the architect of the Paris Opera. Versailles is a classic font for advertisements, perfect for shorter texts and titles/headlines and it
[...]The origins of the font Versailles™ go back to the 19th century in France when, with the introduction of lithography, alphabets could contain freer forms. The basic forms are Modern Face with triangular serifs. The direct influence for Versailles was the writing on the back of the memorial to Charles Garnier, the architect of the Paris Opera. Versailles is a classic font for advertisements, perfect for shorter texts and titles/headlines and it makes an impression of elegance and strength.
Adrian Frutiger designed Versailles™ for Linotype in 1984. He was influenced by lettering cut in metal on a memorial for Charles Garnier, the designer of the Paris Opera building in 1861. This style of lettering, called French Latine, is characterized by very sharp triangular serifs. The Versailles typeface evokes that time and place: it has a symmetrical, almost vertical axis; a tall x-height, and serifs so sharp they could draw blood. This sharpness contrasts nicely with neo-baroque elements such as the flat-but-curvy overhangs on the a, f, g, j and y. Versailles is perfect for shorter texts and titles or headlines. When used in large sizes or in the bolder weights, it has an astonishing impact. Let it perform on opera posters, websites, and advertising banners.
