[1] He studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam from 1963 to 1967, and subsequently worked at Total Design, Prad and Joh.

Unger taught at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie for over 30 years, and from 1994, he was a visiting professor at the University of Reading at the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication.

Tiele Stichting) under the title Veranderend lezen, lezend veranderen (rough translation: Transformed Reading).

[6] In September 2013, he received a PhD degree on a new typeface called Alverata, which he developed while researching medieval lettering.

[7] Gerard Unger died at his home in Bussum on 23 November 2018, approximately five months after his wife's death.

[10] The yearly scholarship gives a student or recent graduate the opportunity to receive feedback and mentorship, as well as a monetary grant, as they complete a typeface designed during their studies.