My favorite typeface, Akzidenz-Grotesk, literally translates to work font (commercial Grotesque). It was released in the late 1800s and has become one of the most widely used and influential typefaces created in the last 150 years. It’s a foundational typeface, …
Avenir was Frutiger’s Masterpiece
Designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1988, Avenir has grown in popularity, with even Frutiger calling it his “masterpiece.” Avenir shows a more humanist approach to early Geometric sans serifs (like Futura). Some people really hate Avenir, but I can’t see why. …
Univers (Helvetica’s rival)
Many think of Univers as a rival to Helvetica, the other uber-popular Neo-Grotesque sans serif. Side note: Neo-Grotesques draw inspiration from my favorite typeface: Akzidenz-Grotesk. Adrian Frutiger designed Univers in 1954. Frutiger is one of the most acclaimed type designers …
Gill Sans, the Humanist to beat
Based on the alphabet designed by Edward Johnston for the London Underground, Eric Gill’s Gill Sans has become one of the most popular Humanist sans serifs around. It’s strokes take influence from real pen strokes, with moderate to high stroke …
Futura was the future
Futura is a geometric sans-serif, meaning (a) that it has no serifs—those little feet you see on Garamond and Caslon—and (b) it’s made of simple shapes—circles, triangles, and rectangles—as opposed to other faces, which are meant to look at least …
