Who is Adrian Frutiger?

Born in Switzerland in 1928, Adrian Frutiger was a very influential typeface designer. Frutiger studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of applied arts) in Zurich, where he primarily focused on calligraphy – a craft that favored the brush as opposed to drafting tools. He went on to work for Deberny & Peignot foundry, where he began working on his own font designs. 

Frutiger created over thirty different typefaces, but he is most well known for Frutiger and Univers, which are still used by many designers today. One of his most influential fonts, Univers, had twenty-one fonts of different line weights and variations within the type family all arranged on the "Univers grid."

"The Univers Grid" showed Univers arranged according to line weight and kerning, which was an effective tool for organizing the different versions of the font. This system helped designers understand how to use the different typefaces within Univers. The grid that Frutiger created for his typefaces continues to resonate with designers today. It is not only a tool for understanding a typeface, but also makes it easier for designers to combine different weights within the type family by laying them out in an organized way. By creating 

Jan Tschichold

Jan Tschichold was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1902 to Maria and Franz Tschichold. His father was a professional sign-writer, and introduced Tschichold to the world of calligraphy. From there, his passion for calligraphy and books only grew and by the age of seventeen, he began studying typography. In 1928, he published "The New Typography," which was treasured his contemporary artists and designers, but it was also displeasing to the Nazi party. After being temporarily imprisoned, Tschichold and his family relocated to Switzerland.

In 1946, Jan Tschichold moved to London where he began his work with Penguin books. There, he created guidelines and rules to be used across the board on all the books that were published by the company. Despite only working at Penguin for three years, Tschichold oversaw the redesign of more than five-hundred books. 

Tschichold was a major influence on modern typography. In his book, "The New Typography," he offered some of the first explanations on how to use differently sized and weighted fonts to convey information. After that, he wrote many typographic manuals which provided insight to many German printers and designers. Many of the principles Tschichold enforced are still in practice today.

Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Tschichold#Design

http://retinart.net/artist-profiles/jan-tschichold/

http://www.designhistory.org/Avant_Garde_pages/DieNeueType.html