Frutiger described Avenir as his finest work: "The quality of the draftsmanship – rather than the intellectual idea behind it – is my masterpiece. (...) It was the hardest typeface I have worked on in my life. Working on it, I always had human nature in mind.
Frutiger regarded Avenir as his magnum opus: "The level of craftsmanship – rather than the intellectual concept driving it – is what makes it my masterpiece. (...) It was the most demanding typeface I have ever tackled. Throughout its development, I continually kept human nature at the forefront of my thoughts.