Adrian Frutiger will be missed, while his work will live on around the world.
He’s been called “the best type designer of the 20th century.” Swiss font creator Adrian Frutiger passed away earlier this month, according to this article in de Zeen Magazine.
His fonts have appeared in Olympic venues, in Disney World and on road signs in his homeland. But perhaps the most ubiquitous appearance of his work is in the City of Westminster, where his Univers type font appears on the corner street signs throughout the heart of London.
“Univers came about after he was asked to adapt Futura and suggested instead he might work on something new,” notes the article. “He produced the font system in just 10 days, drawing on scrap card and sticking together the results.”
“I was completely immersed in this stage of inventing, the way only a young man can be,” he told Eye magazine in 1999.
Truly one of the greats, Frutiger had an unerring eye for form and function that merged effortlessly. “Frutiger’s typefaces are always carefully planned, but they never look it,” said German typographer Erik Spiekermann.
The design world will surely miss this considerable talent, while his contribution will live on in front of millions of eyes every day. What a legacy.