Editing Univers (section)

==Comparison with Akzidenz-Grotesk, Folio, and Helvetica==
[[Image:AGcomparison08.svg|thumb|250px|Comparison of distinguishing characters in [[Akzidenz-Grotesk]], [[Folio (typeface)|Folio]], [[Helvetica]], and Univers 55]]
Univers is similar in design to other European grotesque fonts, of which Akzidenz-Grotesk, Folio, and Helvetica are among the most common. Differences include:

* The tail of 'a' and the top of '1' are much less rounded.
* Upper-case 'G' is formed without an arrow head (called a ''spur'').
* Both arms of 'K' join at the stem.
* The tail of 'Q' runs along the baseline.
* The tail of 'R' is curved (compared with Akzidenz-Grotesk).
* The top of 't' is angled.
* The dot of the 'i' is not square but a rectangle.
* Lower-case 'y' has a straight descender.
* Many of the numerals in Univers have straight vs. curved ascenders
* Helvetica tends to have a slightly greater [[x-height]] than Univers
* Univers generally has quite a wide spacing between letters, and its low x-height gives it a more low-slung, splayed appearance than Helvetica, especially in bold.

Frutiger himself has commented: "Helvetica is the jeans, and Univers the dinner jacket."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Majoor|first1=Martin|title=Inclined to be dull|url=http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/inclined-to-be-dull|date=Spring 2007|website=Eye|access-date=3 August 2015}}</ref> [[Walter Tracy]] described it as better proportioned for text than Helvetica: "more original and subtle in its modelling than Helvetica and, because its character spacing was properly done, a better performer in text composition."<ref name="Letters of Credit">{{cite book|last1=Tracy|first1=Walter|title=Letters of Credit|page=99}}</ref> Mosley has described its even design as "rather bland" and noted that Monotype's eccentric, chaotically organised [[Monotype Grotesque|Grotesque family]] remained popular with more "iconoclastic" printers in the 1960s.<ref name="The Nymph and the Grot, an update">{{cite web|last1=Mosley|first1=James|title=The Nymph and the Grot, an update|url=http://typefoundry.blogspot.co.uk/2007/01/nymph-and-grot-update.html|website=Type Foundry (blog)|access-date=6 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="The Nymph and the Grot p9" /> Stephen Coles describes Univers as "in some ways, even more spare [than Helvetica] (no beards or tails)"<ref name="Alternatives to Helvetica Coles">{{cite web |last1=Coles |first1=Stephen |title=Helvetica and Alternatives to Helvetica |url=http://fontfeed.com/archives/helvetica-and-alternatives-to-helvetica/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921081307/http://fontfeed.com/archives/helvetica-and-alternatives-to-helvetica/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 September 2008 |website=FontFeed (archived) |access-date=3 August 2018}}</ref> and [[Simon Loxley]] comments that Helvetica "escapes the chilliness of Univers...it does have some elusive quality that gives it a friendlier feel".<ref name="Loxley2006">{{cite book|author-link=Simon Loxley|first=Simon|last=Loxley|title=Type: The Secret History of Letters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9AfP2prmEDUC|date=12 June 2006|publisher=I.B.Tauris|pages=172–4|isbn=978-1-84511-028-4}}</ref> Dutch font designer [[Martin Majoor]], while praising Univers for its "almost scientific" range of weights, criticised it for its lack of originality: "basing a sans serif on another is rather cheap."<ref name="auto"/> Frutiger's later landmark sans-serif designs, [[Avenir (typeface)|Avenir]] and [[Frutiger (typeface)|Frutiger]], would take very different, more [[humanist sans-serif|humanist]] and [[geometric sans-serif|geometric]] approaches.