What is the Avenir® font?

Adrian Frutiger designed Avenir in 1988, after years of having an interest in sans serif typefaces. In an interview with Linotype, he said he felt an obligation to design a linear sans in the tradition of Erbar and Futura, but to also make use of the experience and stylistic developments of the twentieth century. The word Avenir means “future” in French and hints that the typeface owes some of its interpretation to Futura. But unlike Futura , 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.

Avenir® Font families

The Avenir® includes the following font families:

• Avenir 35 Light
• Avenir 35 Light Oblique
• Avenir 45 Book
• Avenir 45 Book Oblique
• Avenir 55 Roman
• Avenir 55 Oblique
• Avenir 65 Medium
• Avenir 65 Medium Oblique
• Avenir Pro 85 Heavy
• Avenir 85 Heavy Oblique
• Avenir 95 Black
• Avenir 95 Black Oblique

Avenir® Preview

Here is a preview of how Avenir® will look. For more previews using your own text as an example, click here.