About The Font
The Avenir font is a sans-serif typeface designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1988 and released by Linotype GmbH. The font was intended to be a more humanist counterpart to the geometric sans-serifs popular at the time. The font is characterized by its relatively wide letterforms and subtle, curved features. It is one of the last typefaces Frutiger designed before his death in 1998. The name of the typeface derives from the French word for “future” and hints at its relation to the Futura font. Many people have used it for corporate and personal branding in the last few years because it is versatile and easy to read.
The Avenir typeface family consists of five fonts: Regular, Italic, Medium, Demi-Bold, Bold, and Black. Each font contains roman and italic versions in upright and oblique styles. There is also a set of ornaments with the fonts. The typeface can be purchased individually or in a bundle with the Frutiger family (Frutiger Serif and Frutiger Monospace).
It is based on the typeface Frutiger (which was designed by Frutiger in 1976) but with subtle changes to the letterforms. The most noticeable difference is that the curves are much more elegant than in the Frutiger font. The new typeface was named Avenir because it was a sign of the future of typography and its versatility.
As time has gone on, the Avenir family has grown. In 2007, a black weight was added to the family, as well as a condensed version in 2013.
Usage
Fonts are an essential part of the design. With many different typefaces, knowing which one is right for your project can be confusing. If you’re looking for a modern font that will give your work a sleek, contemporary look, Avenir is an excellent option.
Avenir has been used for corporate identity programs by companies such as Lufthansa (1996), Nestlé (1997), and Cadillac (2002). It has been used for magazines like National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, and Vogue. It has also been seen on book covers, such as Michael Cunningham’s novel “The Hours” (1998), Paul Auster’s novel “Invisible” (2000), and Alan Hollinghurst’s novel “The Line of Beauty” (2004).
The typeface is still used a lot today, on book covers, magazines, and newspapers worldwide.
About The Designer
Adrian Frutiger was born on May 29, 1924, in Münsterlingen, Switzerland. He studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich from 1940 to 1943 and then at the Kunstgewerbeschule Basel from 1944 to 1946. He began working for Deberny & Peignot as a typeface designer in 1948. In 1957, he began working as a freelance designer and consultant. He was involved in the development of the Univers family and other typefaces such as Avenir, Scala, and Frutiger. In 1988, he founded his own design studio, Adrian Frutiger Typeface Design GmbH. His work has earned him many awards, such as an honorary doctorate from the University of Reading (U.K.) in 1997 and the prestigious Prix Charles Peignot in 1998. The American Institute of Graphic Arts named him one of the “Masters of 20th Century Design” in 2000.
His typefaces have been used for corporate identity programs by companies such as AT & T (Sans Serif), Nestlé (Courier), Volkswagen (Neue Haas Grotesk), BMW (Frutiger), and Swissair (Frutiger). They have been cited in many magazines and newspapers, such as The New York Times, The Financial Times, Le Monde, and DIE ZEIT. It has also been used for book covers, such as the U.S. edition of Philip Roth’s novel “American Pastoral” (1998) and the French edition of Michael Cunningham’s novel “The Hours” (2003).
On October 29, 1998, Adrian Frutiger passed away at his home in Herrliberg, Switzerland, after suffering from cancer for several years. He was 74 years old. They have been popular even after he died because of their timeless look.
Font information
Name | Avenir font |
Style | Sans-serif |
Designer | Adrian Frutiger |
File Format | OTF and TTF. |
Font Licence | Freeware and Commercial |
Type | Full Family |
Font View
Before downloading the typeface, you can preview the characters to better understand how they will appear on your creative projects.

Fonts Family
- Avenir Pro 35 Light
- Avenir Pro 35 Light Oblique
- Avenir Pro 45 Book
- Avenir Pro 45 Book Oblique
- Avenir Pro 55 Roman
- Avenir Pro 55 Oblique
- Avenir Pro 65 Medium
- Avenir Pro 65 Medium Oblique
- Avenir Pro 85 Heavy
- Avenir Pro 85 Heavy Oblique
- Avenir Pro 95 Black
- Avenir Pro 95 Black Oblique
- Avenir Std 35 Light
- Avenir Std 35 Light Oblique
- Avenir Std 45 Book
- Avenir Std 45 Book Oblique
- Avenir Std 55 Roman
- Avenir Std 55 Oblique
- Avenir Std 65 Medium
- Avenir Std 65 Medium Oblique
- Avenir Std 85 Heavy
- Avenir Std 85 Heavy Oblique
- Avenir Std 95 Black
- Avenir Std 95 Black Oblique
Similar Fonts
In addition to the Avenir typeface, there are several fantastic free options available.
- Eau Font
- Montserrat Font
- Mulish Font
- Manrope Font
- Nunito Font
Font Pairing
Here are some Avenir font combinations you can use to make high-quality designs, like the ones below.
- Lato.
- Helvetica.
- Josefin Sans.
- Bree Serif.
Download
Below, you can download the font for your personal and commercial projects.
Supported Languages
The font support 69 languages with all Latin extended version. Its support Afrikaans, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic (Irish), Galician, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Kurdish (lat), Latvian, Lithuanian, Mongolian (lat), Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovene, Spain, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Uzbek (lat), etc.
License Information
While the font is free to download, its use is restricted by a licensing agreement that requires users to credit the font’s creator. It has the below license type:
- LICENSE FOR DESKTOP FONT
- LICENSE FOR DIGITAL ADVERTISING
- LICENSE FOR WEB FONT
- LICENSE FOR MOBILE APPLICATION
- ELECTRONIC PUBLICATION LICENSE
- SERVER LICENSE
FAQs
Ans: Avenir font is a sans-serif typeface.
Ans: Adrian Frutiger created the Avenir font family.
Ans: You can download the Avenir font from our website. It is compatible with both PCs and Macs.
Ans: Montserrat Font similar to the Avenir font in Google fonts.
Ans: Creating logos and headings is the best way to use the font.
Ans: All online platforms are compatible with this font.
Ans: No, this is a commercial font, but some versions you can try for a test.
Ans: You must purchase the font from the original license holder to use it as a web font.
Ans: As a free alternative, you could use “Eau Font.”
Note: No need to worry. Follow our instructions.
How to Install Custom Fonts on Your Windows PC
How to Install Custom Fonts on Your Mac
You can also learn more about typography and its classification.
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