Frutiger indicated the difference between the two quite simply: РІР‚СљHelvetica is the jeans, and Univers the dinner jacket.РІР‚Сњ If you compare the two, you will see the subtle elegance of Univers in comparison to the workaday appearanceР’В of Helvetica:Р”В«ut there was more to it than that. This was three years before the creation of the now-ubiquitous Helvetica. Things changed in 1954 when he developed the simple, clean, sans serif font Univers. These are not invisible or banal typefaces, but he was a young man making a name for himself at this point. But I digress.)Р”Р‡rutigerРІР‚в„ўs first effortsР’В with Deberny and Peignot were varied: President, Ondine, Meridian. It may look familiar to people of a certain age as the font used for the РІР‚СљMary Tyler Moore Show.РІР‚Сњ I donРІР‚в„ўt think it has aged well. (Now here is where I get to admit that I am a type snob, and the minute I saw the name РІР‚СљPeignot,РІР‚Сњ I thought, what, the creators of that font? The font named Peignot, which is not the one shown above,Р’В was designed in 1937 and enjoyed a resurgence in the 1970s. After training in Switzerland, where he was born, he settled in Paris and went to work for the type foundry Deberny and Peignot. The spoon and the letter are tools one to take food from the bowl, the other to take information off the pageРІР‚В¦ When it is a good design, the reader has to feel comfortable because the letter is both banal and beautiful.РІР‚СњР”Р‡rutiger seems to have developed this approach over time. As Frutiger himself put it, РІР‚СљIf you remember the shape of your spoon at lunch, it has to be the wrong shape. One is so busy absorbing the content of the message that the actual form of the message disappears. The designerРІР‚в„ўs name is now forever attached to the typeface used atР’В Charles de Gaulle.Р”Р‡rutigerРІР‚в„ўs obituary in the New York Times on September 20 quotes Erik Spiekermann, a German type designer, who notes that the Frutiger typeface РІР‚СљdoesnРІР‚в„ўt call attention to itselfРІР‚В¦it makes itself invisible, but physically itРІР‚в„ўs actually incredibly legible.РІР‚Сњ But not everything can turned into a picture (such as, apparently, an airport lounge, judging by the image above). Now, of course, more and more airports are signed in pictograms. But the ease of finding your planeР’В and your duty-free Veuve ClicquotР’В depends on clear signs. You will look for your gate and the shopsР’В and move on. When you arriveР’В at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, one of the first things you will see is the work of a man who died on September 10 of this year: Adrian Frutiger, type designer.

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