Post 6: Late 20th Century and the New Millennium

Adrian Frutiger
The Frutiger type family was released publicly by the Stempel type foundry, in conjunction with Linotype, in 1976.  Designed by the Swiss type designer Adrian Frutiger, the typeface’s characteristics are simplicity and legibility with a warm and casual feel.  It is a modern sans-serif typeface that echoes the rationality and clean lines of Frutiger’s late 1950’s design, Univers.  It also aims to take on the organic and proportional qualities of Gill Sans.  One of the features of both Univers and Frutiger is the comfortable white space between the letters.  This statement by Adrian Frutiger gives an insight into his design philosophy: “Typography must be as beautiful as a forest, not like the concrete jungle of the tenements ... It gives distance between the trees, the room to breathe and allow for life.”(Adrian Frutiger, Interview with Klaus-Peter Nicolay, Druckmarkt, issue 2004 9/10).  The ascenders and descenders are very prominent and the wide apertures help distinguish the letter forms and, therefore, enhance the overall legibility.  Frutiger has been expanded to include many variants, even ornamental and serif typefaces.  In 2008 Frutiger was Linotype‘s 5th best-selling typeface.  For example it is used by the British Navy, a number of universities, the Canadian Broadcasting Commission, the Finnish Defence Forces and throughout the public transport network in Oslo, Norway.  Since 2003 Swiss authorities have been using a Frutiger variant, called ASTRA-Frutiger, for traffic signs – it was based on Frutiger 57 Condensed but has up- and down-strokes that widen so that they hold the eye more effectively.

Carol Twombly
Carol Twombly was an American typographer and graphic designer who, as a pioneer in digital type design, was among the first to create whole digital typefaces that were based on historically important type that had long been used in traditional printing.  She joined Adobe Systems in 1988, releasing the display typefaces Trajan, Charlemagne and Lithos the following year.  Twombly released her Adobe Caslon, a Dutch Fell type, in 1990.  It was based on the original Caslon design by English engraver and typefounder William Caslon (1692–1766) and it is the typeface for which she is best known.  Twombly’s variation on the original was successful because its heavy serifs and large x-heights made it readable in a digital context.  The typeface maintained an even tone when set as running text and printed well with both ink jet and laser desktop printers.  One important innovation of Adobe Caslon and other early digital fonts by Twombly was that they were among the first to be designed specifically for the new printing media associated with desktop publishing.  There are a number of variants that have been produced by other designers both before and after the release of Adobe Caslon.  Carol Twombly retired from Adobe in 1999 to focus on her other design interests.