Adrian Frutiger was a skilled typeface designer in the twentieth century. He was born in Switzerland in 1928 as the son of a weaver. His father and school teachers discouraged his interests in sculpture and instead encouraged him to work in printing. He was an apprentice to the printer Otoo Schaerffli. He later went to study under Walter Kach and Alfred Willimann in the Kunstgewerbeschule school of applied arts in Zurich.
Charles Peignot from the Deberny and Peignot foundry recruited Frutiger because of his skilled wood-engraved illustrations. At Deberny and Peignot foundry, Frutiger designed the typfaces President, Phoebus, and Ondine. He also created Meridien and Egyptienne.
His most known font is Univers. Universe is the first modular type family designed. It hold a matrix of options totally 21 faces, coded by number. This includes five weights and 4 widths: ultra condensed, condensed, regular, and extended. Univers is unique in that it uses a two-digit code where the first digit indicates the weight and the second digit indicates the face-width. This system is known as the Univers grid.
Universe is a popular alternitive to Helvetica. Universe is very helpful when a wide range of variation is required. The condensed versions can be used as text faces that allow for narrower columns to be used. Although Universe is less known