In early 2009 John L. Walters asked me to review Adrian Frutiger – Typefaces: The Complete Works for Eye, the international review of graphic design. It was originally published in Eye 71, the Spring 2009 issue. I am republishing my review in respectful memory of, and with gratitude for Adrian Frutiger, considered by many to be the most important type designer of the twentieth century, who passed away three weeks ago.

These are difficult times for the typography world. Too soon after Hermann Zapf, we lost another one of our legends. Saturday the news reached us that Adrian Frutiger, considered by many to be the most important type designer of the twentieth century, had passed away in the early morning of September 10th in Bremgarten near Bern, Switzerland. The news spread like wildfire through social media, much to the chagrin of the family who did not want to reveal his death to the public, in accordance with the explicit wish of the designer. There will be no mourning cards nor official obituary from the Frutiger family.

Too often career-spanning monographs of typeface designers are published only after their death, or at least when they have reached a respectable age. Not so much for Jean François Porchez, without a doubt the most prominent French type designer of his generation. Following monographs on Roger Excoffon, François Boltana, and Jean Alessandrini, Atelier Perrousseaux [Editeur] published Jean François Porchez – L’excellence typographique / The haute couture of typeface design, the first bilingual volume in their series Histoire de l’écriture typographique (History of typographic writing).

It is scary how fast these summer days fly by. TypeCon just concluded yet another successful edition in Denver, Colorado. Our typeface identification and editorial team was valiantly represented by David Sudweeks who took home the top prize in the annual Type Quiz. And it’s already a month ago that Granshan made a stop in the renowned University of Reading for their 2015 conference. For those who – just like me – missed out on those events, there is a possibility to catch up on what happened thanks to the videos that are available online. Granshan already published theirs, and if the ten videos from last year are any indication, TypeCon should follow suit soon.

TypeCon starts this week in Denver, and as design conferences go, it’s difficult to imagine one with a more inclusive atmosphere.