Adrian Frutiger

Adrian Frutiger (born March 24, 1928) is one of the twentieth century's most prominent typeface designers and continues to influence the direction of digital typography into the twenty-first century. Frutiger is best known for his typefaces Univers and Frutiger. Frutiger was born near the town of Interlaken, in the Swiss Alps. His father was a weaver. As a child he experimented with a variety of self-invented scripts and stylized handwriting in reaction to the formal cursive required at the time in Swiss schools. An early interest in sculpture was discouraged by his father and secondary school teachers who encouraged him to work in printing. Though Frutiger entered the world of print, he maintains that love of sculpture influenced the form of his types.

Frutiger's career and type development spans the eras of hot metal, phototypesetting, and digital typesetting. Frutiger now lives near Bern, Switzerland, and is primarily working with woodcuts. In 2003 Frutiger was commissioned by Swiss watchmaker Ventura to design a line of limited-edition watches. He created a new face specifically for the watch face. Frutiger also designed a mark for the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India. The institute had been named the National Design Institute; however, the name was changed to match Frutiger's design, which incorporated a stylized NID logo alongside the words "National Institute of Design."

©2007 David Scott | Cosmic

Wally Olins

Wally Olins is one of the first individuals to work inside the corporate identity field. He's worked with many leading organizations such as Volkswagen, Portugal Department of Tourism and Renault and turned their brands into corporate powerhouses. He is currently partner and co-founder of Saffron Brand Consultants a leading branding and identity consultancy with offices in London and Madrid.

He was nominated for the Prince Philip Designers Prize in 1999 and received the Royal Society of Arts’ Bicentenary Medal for his contribution to design and marketing. In 2003, he received a D&AD (Britain’s industry group for the design field) President’s Award for his outstanding contribution to design.

Today, he is a visiting professor at the Saïd Business School at Oxford, Lancaster University and Copenhagen Business School, and holds seminars on branding and communication issues around the world.

©2007 David Scott | Cosmic

Eric Gill

History has always been sort of a dull subject for me and unless it had something to do with Nazis getting abducted by UFOs and was on the History Channel, I was no where to be found. So, recently, when I found a desire to learn more about the history of graphic design, I was surprised to learn about some professionals who even a 100 years ago could take on today's talent with a vengence.

Take Eric Gill for example. This British born typographer started out as an architect and found his training cumbersome. He then moved on to stone carving which led him to carving letterforms. His most famous typeface, Gill Sans produced in 1924, is still a highly prized typeface today. His career gained him much noteriety as he continued to produce amazing artworks for the BBC, the League of Nations and several postage stamp designs. He was eventually awarded the Royal Designer for Industry, the highest award given to designers.

With all the prestige surrounding his career, it is fascinating to me that upon his death in 1940, his headstone simply labels him as a "stone carver." Must have been humble about his influence on this industry.

©2007 David Scott | Cosmic