2.

Beyond Univers and Avenir:

Akira Kobayashi reminisces on Adrian Frutiger

Japanese type designer and 2022 Type Directors Club Medalist Akira Kobayashi has a robust, more than a 39-year long career: he contributed deeply to bridging the Eastern and Western typographic worlds, created over 50 Latin type families, and now works with Monotype as their Creative Type Director.

In 2003 he had a chance to work shoulder to shoulder with another titan and the TDC medalist of 1987—Adrian Frutiger. They met when Akira had joined Linotype and worked on Avenir Next, a remake of Adrian’s renowned Avenir typeface.

For Kobayashi, the collaborative project with Frutiger meant more than a simple re-edition of his classic typeface, as once his book drastically changed the young designer’s life and he finally got the chance to express his gratitude. In the text, Akira reveals moments he shared with the outstanding figure and opens up a bit about joint work with another prominent designer and TDC Medalist, Hermann Zapf.