For day three, we travel to New Zealand, where Klim Type Foundry was founded in 2005 by type designer Kris Sowersby. After having worked a while as a graphic designer, Kris was contacted by Chester Jenkins from Vllg who wanted to release Kris’ first typeface Feijoa. It was published in 2007 and the first royalty cheques from the sales of Feijoa allowed him to focus on type design full time.
Klim (“milk” spelled backwards) has since published a broad range of high-quality typefaces of which many can be considered modern classics already. National first gained Klim international recognition, also because of a TDC award in 2008. Since then, Klim has touched on many genres of type design, always drawing inspiration and paying tribute to classics of type history but creating contemporary designs at an extraordinary level of detail and quality. Calibre is a neo-grotesk sans serif inspired by lettering on West Berlin street signs. Epicene is a poetic hommage to the crackling Baroque letterforms of designers like Rosart and Fleischmann. And then there is Söhne, the ultimate descendant of Akzidenz Grotesk – confident, sturdy, and authentic.
Popular doesn’t necessarily mean good. I’m not particularly interested in what’s popular; I’m much more interested in what’s good.
When you visit Klim’s website, definitely take some time to read a few of the design information posts that Kris is writing for each release, like this one for Söhne. They are just outstanding. Each is a little, respectful journey into the history of type design but also documents the extraordinary attention to detail and craftsmanship that is evident in all typefaces of the Klim Type Foundry.
Oh, and they also have a store, Klim Goods with a lot of beautiful products and sold-out posters. ;)
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