TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on Wed Nov 20 11:40:37 EST 2024

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Univers

Univers is a sans-serif type system designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1956. Both Univers and Helvetica take inspiration from the 1896 typeface Akzidenz Grotesk. Both arrived in the heyday of Swiss type design. Helvetica became more prominent, but Univers is more logical: different weights and variations within the type family were designated by the use of numbers rather than names. The original Univers type family consisted of 14 weights plus 16 variants with central European (CE) and Cyrillic character sets. In 1997 Frutiger reworked the whole Univers family at Linotype, thus creating Linotype Univers, which consists of 63 weights. By reworking the Univers more "extreme" weights as Ultra Light or Extended Heavy were added as well as some monospaced typefaces. The numbering system originally created by Frutiger was as follows:

First digit	Second digit
Ultra Light Thin Light Normal, Roman, or Regular Medium Bold Heavy Black Ultra or Extra Black	Ultra Extended Ultra Extended Oblique (Italic) Extended Extended Oblique (Italic) Normal Oblique (Italic) Condensed Condensed Oblique (Italic) Ultra Condensed

So, for example, Univers 25 is a regular ultra light version. A modified version is being used by the new Swiss International Air Lines (the old Swissair used the typeface Futura), Deutsche Bank and for signage all over the world. General Electric used the font from 1986 to 2004 before switching to GE Inspira. Apple Inc. uses this typeface as well as its condensed oblique variant for the keycaps on many of its keyboards. The Paris Metro, Montreal Metro, San Francisco BART [2], Frankfurt airport and the Walt Disney World road system also make extensive use of this font.

EXTERNAL LINKS
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INTERNAL LINKS
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