In 1968, Adrian Frutiger was commissioned to develop a signage system suited to the architecture of the new Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris. His final design for the client, implemented in 1975, is a simple, clean, robust sans serif type that is highly legible. In 1976, Frutiger completed the family for the Stempel foundry.

Despite its original intention as airport signage, Frutiger has a universal quality that makes it appropriate for many applications; a favorite typeface among advertising agencies, it is equally successful in text and display work.