Klim Type Foundry

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Kris Sowersby speaking at TypeCon2018 Kris Sowersby TypeCon 2018.jpg
Kris Sowersby speaking at TypeCon2018

The Klim Type Foundry is a digital type foundry operated by Kris Sowersby, a New Zealand typeface designer. Klim was founded in 2005 and is currently based in Wellington. [1] Klim produces retail typefaces, custom typefaces and custom lettering and logotypes. [2] [3] Sowersby has garnered many international awards for his typefaces.

Contents

Kris Sowersby

Sowersby, born in 1981, [4] graduated from the Wanganui School of Design in 2003. 'Feijoa', his first retail typeface, was released in 2007, followed by 'National'. National first gained him international recognition, winning a Type Directors Club award in 2008. [5] His typefaces 'Hardys' and 'Serrano' won the same recognition in 2009. [6] Sowersby has collaborated with other notable designers, including Christian Schwartz and Erik Spiekermann in the design of 'FF Meta Serif'. [7]

Sowerby's lettering also appears in the logos for the Harvard Business Review [8] and the Bank of New Zealand. [9]

Major projects

Pure Pākati

In 2015 Sowersby created a custom typeface for Tourism New Zealand with Rangi Kipa, Philip Kelly and Karl Wixon. [10] [11] Sowersby devised letterforms which were carved on blocks of kauri by Kipa, which were then inked, printed and digitised to create the typeface. [12]

Financial Times redesign

In 2014 Sowersby was commissioned to produce a new custom typeface, 'Financier', for the redesign of the business and economics daily newspaper, the Financial Times. [13] The Financial Times' head of design stated that the paper wanted "an elegant, authoritative serif with the versatility to handle news and features stories (in the arts, science and sport, as well as finance)" and a connection to its 'British heritage'. [13] Sowersby has noted that he looked to typefaces by Eric Gill in his research for the new typeface. [14]

'Financier' was awarded a gold pin in New Zealand's Best Awards in 2015. [15]

Air New Zealand

In 2012 Sowersby was commissioned, with design company Designworks, to create custom lettering for New Zealand carrier Air New Zealand. [16]

National Geographic redesign

Since the brand's 2016 refocusing on "smart science" across all media, it has gradually transitioned to a bespoke type palette. Their first commissioned typeface was Grosvenor, a custom version of Klim Type Foundry's Tiempos with longer extenders, for article text in National Geographic magazine. In 2018, this was accompanied by Geograph, a geometric sans serif, replacing Hoefler & Co.'s Verlag across all branded media. These two new types were accompanied by two new headline faces and a new magazine nameplate from Tal Leming starting in the May 2018 issue. [17] [18] [19]

Hokotohu

In 2007, Sowersby, under direction of DNA Design, designed ‘Hokotohu’, with its serifs based on Rākau momori, for the Hokotehi Moriori Trust.

PayPal

In 2014, the PayPal product team commissioned Klim to create a typeface that "should be fluid, delightful, easy, calm and humanistic." It should also be "mobile-first, numeral-centric" and "space-efficient". After three different approaches, the foundry settled for 'Dutch', made with inspiration from Jan van Krimpen's Romulus Sans Serif. This later became PayPal Sans, which has two subfamilies: PayPal Sans Big, and PayPal Sans Small. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palatino</span> Serif typeface

Palatino is the name of an old-style serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf, initially released in 1949 by the Stempel foundry and later by other companies, most notably the Mergenthaler Linotype Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sans-serif</span> Typeface classification for letterforms without serifs

In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than serif typefaces. They are often used to convey simplicity and modernity or minimalism. For the purposes of type classification, sans-serif designs are usually divided into these major groups: § Grotesque and § Neo-grotesque, § Geometric, § Humanist and § Other or mixed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Typeface</span> Set of characters that share common design features

A typeface is a design of letters, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size, weight, slope, width, and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Futura (typeface)</span> Geometric sans-serif typeface

Futura is a geometric sans-serif typeface designed by Paul Renner and released in 1927. It was designed as a contribution on the New Frankfurt-project. It is based on geometric shapes, especially the circle, similar in spirit to the Bauhaus design style of the period. It was developed as a typeface by the Bauer Type Foundry, in competition with Ludwig & Mayer's seminal Erbar typeface of 1926.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gill Sans</span> Humanist sans-serif typeface family developed by Monotype

Gill Sans is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Eric Gill and released by the British branch of Monotype from 1928 onwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Frutiger</span> Swiss typeface designer (1928–2015)

Adrian Johann Frutiger was a Swiss typeface designer who influenced the direction of type design in the second half of the 20th century. His career spanned the hot metal, phototypesetting and digital typesetting eras. Until his death, he lived in Bremgarten bei Bern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myriad (typeface)</span> Sans-serif typeface family

Myriad is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Robert Slimbach and Carol Twombly for Adobe Systems. Myriad was intended as a neutral, general-purpose typeface that could fulfill a range of uses and have a form easily expandable by computer-aided design to a large range of weights and widths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Didone (typography)</span> Classification of serif typefaces

Didone is a genre of serif typeface that emerged in the late 18th century and was the standard style of general-purpose printing during the 19th century. It is characterized by:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akzidenz-Grotesk</span> Sans-serif typeface family by the Berthold Type Foundry of Berlin

Akzidenz-Grotesk is a sans-serif typeface family originally released by the Berthold Type Foundry of Berlin. "Akzidenz" indicates its intended use as a typeface for commercial print runs such as publicity, tickets and forms, as opposed to fine printing, and "grotesque" was a standard name for sans-serif typefaces at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarendon (typeface)</span> Slab-serif typeface

Clarendon is the name of a slab serif typeface that was released in 1845 by Thorowgood and Co. of London, a letter foundry often known as the Fann Street Foundry. The original Clarendon design is credited to Robert Besley, a partner in the foundry, and was originally engraved by punchcutter Benjamin Fox, who may also have contributed to its design. Many copies, adaptations and revivals have been released, becoming almost an entire genre of type design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perpetua (typeface)</span> Serif typeface

Perpetua is a serif typeface that was designed by the English sculptor and stonemason Eric Gill for the British Monotype Corporation. Perpetua was commissioned at the request of Stanley Morison, an influential historian of printing and adviser to Monotype around 1925, when Gill's reputation as a leading artist-craftsman was high. Perpetua was intended as a crisp, contemporary design that did not follow any specific historic model, with a structure influenced by Gill's experience of carving lettering for monuments and memorials. Perpetua is commonly used for covers and headings and also sometimes for body text and has been particularly popular in fine book printing. Perpetua was released with characters for the Greek alphabet and a matching set of titling capitals for headings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DIN 1451</span> Sans-serif font, used on German traffic signs

DIN 1451 is a sans-serif typeface that is widely used for traffic, administrative and technical applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clearface</span> Typeface

Clearface is a serif typeface designed by Morris Fuller Benton with the collaboration of his father Linn Boyd Benton, produced at American Type Founders in 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plantin (typeface)</span> Typeface

Plantin is an old-style serif typeface. It was created in 1913 by the British Monotype Corporation for their hot metal typesetting system and is named after the sixteenth-century printer Christophe Plantin. It is loosely based on a Gros Cicero roman type cut in the 16th century by Robert Granjon held in the collection of the Plantin–Moretus Museum, Antwerp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reverse-contrast typefaces</span> Kind of typeface or custom lettering

A reverse-contrast or reverse-stress letterform is a design in which the stress is reversed from the norm: a typeface or custom lettering where the horizontal lines are the thickest. This is the reverse of the vertical lines being the same width or thicker than horizontals, which is normal in Latin-alphabet writing and especially printing. The result is a dramatic effect, in which the letters seem to have been printed the wrong way round. The style invented in the early nineteenth century as attention-grabbing novelty display designs. Modern font designer Peter Biľak, who has created a design in the genre, has described them as "a dirty trick to create freakish letterforms that stood out."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Display typeface</span> Font that is used at large sizes for headings

A display typeface is a typeface that is intended for use in display type at large sizes for titles, headings, pull quotes, and other eye-catching elements, rather than for extended passages of body text.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solus (typeface)</span> Serif typeface designed by Eric Gill

Solus is a serif typeface that was designed by English sculptor and stonemason Eric Gill for the British Monotype Corporation and released in 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caslon Egyptian</span>

Egyptian is a typeface created by the Caslon foundry of Salisbury Square, London around or probably slightly before 1816, that is the first general-purpose sans-serif typeface in the Latin alphabet known to have been created.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fat face</span> Style of display typeface and lettering

In typography, a fat face letterform is a serif typeface or piece of lettering in the Didone or modern style with an extremely bold design. Fat face typefaces appeared in London around 1805–1810 and became widely popular; John Lewis describes the fat face as "the first real display typeface."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood type</span> Movable type made out of wood

In letterpress printing, wood type is movable type made out of wood. First used in China for printing body text, wood type became popular during the nineteenth century for making large display typefaces for printing posters, because it was lighter and cheaper than large sizes of metal type.

References

  1. "Kris Sowersby | Designer". FontShop. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  2. "Klim Type Foundry - Home". Klim.co.nz. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  3. Heck, Bethany. "Founders Grotesk". Font Review Journal. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  4. "ADC Young Guns ® | ADC Young Guns 8 Winners". Adcyoungguns.org. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  5. "Type Directors Club : News : TDC2 2008 Results : National". Tdc.org. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  6. "TDC2 2009 Winners | Type Directors Club". Tdc.org. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  7. "Eye Magazine | Feature | Reputations: Kris Sowersby". Eye Magazine. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  8. "Harvard Business Review". klim.co.nz. 17 December 2011. Archived from the original on 17 December 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  9. "Bank of New Zealand". www.klim.co.nz. 1 January 2012. Archived from the original on 1 January 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  10. "Pure Pākati - carved from the land". Radio New Zealand. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  11. "Pure Pākati Design Information". Klim.co.nz. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  12. Wood, Alan (15 May 2015). "100% Pure NZ to get a refresh at Trenz tourism conference". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  13. 1 2 Garcia, Mario (15 September 2014). "Financial Times: A classic redesign for the digital age". Poynter.org. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  14. Sowersby, Kris (15 September 2014). "Financier Design Information". Klim. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  15. "Klim Type Foundry and The Financial Times. Financier Typeface Family". Best Awards. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  16. "Air New Zealand's distinctive aircraft tails go black". Air New Zealand. 20 July 2012. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  17. "Geograph Design Information". Klim Type Foundry. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  18. "Earle and Marden". Type Supply. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  19. "National Geographic Nameplate". Type Supply. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  20. "Klim Type Foundry · PayPal Sans Design Information". klim.co.nz. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2022.