A e ir A ve ni A ve rA v n n en ir v en ir ir Av en ir ir Av en ir A A e ir A v n v A e ir A e ve ni Typ A ve r A e Fa v n n en ir v milyen i i A e i
"Avenir" Typeface Specimen Book Designer: Adrien Frutiger
Editor and Designer: Zack Nichols
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Contents
Chapter 1: 4 About the Designer
Chapter 2:
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Chapter 3:
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Colophon:
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Type Specimen
Type Anatomy
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88888888 88888888 88888888 88888888 88888888 1988 88888888 88888888 88888888 88888888 88888888 88888888 88888888 4
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In In French French “Avenir” “Avenir” Means Means Future Future
Avenir
is a typeface designed by Swiss font artist ADRIAN FRUTIGER in 1988 5
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Avenir is Inspired by the FRUTIGER geometric sans serif. The
Frutiger’s intentions, to convey the idea of 6
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font FUTURA described Avenir as a
name Avenir (future) gives us a clue as to timelessness in the image of his typeace. 7
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History
“avenir is intended to be nothing more or less than a clear and clean representation of modern typographical trends, giving the design-
er a typeface which is strictly modern and at the same time human,
i.e., suitably refined and elegant for use in texts of any length,” said
Adrian Frutiger of his design for the font. Released in 1988 by Lino-
type-Hell AG, Avenir was inspired by Erbar and Futura, two preexisting sans serif typefaces. While the weights of these three fonts are
similar, Avenir is unique in that each of its varieties is designed for a
different purpose. The result: versatile yet consistent type for a range of printing conditions.¹
Avenir is not purely geometric; it has vertical strokes that are thicker
than the horizontals, an “o” that is not a perfect circle, and shortened
ascenders. These nuances aid in legibility and give Avenir a harmonious and sensible appearance for both texts and headlines.²
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Adrien
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FUTI
“If you remember the shape of your spoon at lunch, it has to be the wrong shape. The spoon and the letter are tools; one to take food from the bowl, the other to take information off the page... When it is a good design, the reader has to feel comfortable because the letter is both banal and beautiful.�
IGER
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a b c d
i j k l q r s t
y z 12
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e f g h
m n o p
u v w x
lowercase Alphabet 13
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A B C D
I J K L Q R S T
Y Z 14
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E F G H
M N O P
U V W X
UPPERCASE Alphabet 15
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Numbers and Special Characters
0 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9
# $ % ^ & * () _ + = ! @ 16
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Sizes 8 point font
the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
10 point font the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog 12 point font the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog 14 point font the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog 18 point font the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog 18
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& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
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ALIGHNMENT: FLUSH LEFT RAGGED RIGHT:
Avenir is not purely geometric; it has vertical strokes that are thicker than the horizontals, an “o” that is not a perfect circle, and shortened ascenders. These nuances aid in legibility and give Avenir a harmonious and sensible appearanceb for both texts and headlines.²
FLUSH RIGHT RAGGED RIGHT:
Avenir is not purely geometric; it has vertical strokes that are thicker than the horizontals, an “o” that is not a perfect circle, and shortened ascenders. These nuances aid in legibility and give Avenir a harmonious and sensible appearanceb for both texts and headlines.²
JUSTIFIED:
Avenir is not purely geometric; it has vertical strokes that are thicker than the horizontals, an “o” that is not a perfect circle, and shortened ascenders. These nuances aid in legibility and give Avenir a harmonious and sensible appearanceb for both texts and headlines.²
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