Klim Type Foundry

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.

Kris Sowersby speaking at TypeCon2018

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'.

Sowerby's lettering also appears in the logos for the Harvard Business Review[7] and the Bank of New Zealand.[8]

Major projects

Pure Pākati

In 2015 Sowersby created a custom typeface for Tourism New Zealand with Rangi Kipa, Philip Kelly and Karl Wixon.[9][10] Sowersby devised letterforms which were carved on blocks of kauri by Kipa, which were then inked, printed and digitised to create the typeface.[11]

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.[12] 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'.[12] Sowersby has noted that he looked to typefaces by Eric Gill in his research for the new typeface.[13]

'Financier' was awarded a gold pin in New Zealand's Best Awards in 2015.[14]

Air New Zealand

In 2012 Sowersby was commissioned, with design company Designworks, to create custom lettering for New Zealand carrier Air New Zealand.[15]

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.[16][17][18]

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.[19]

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. "Harvard Business Review". klim.co.nz. 17 December 2011. Archived from the original on 17 December 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  8. "Bank of New Zealand". www.klim.co.nz. 1 January 2012. Archived from the original on 1 January 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  9. "Pure Pākati - carved from the land". Radio New Zealand. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  10. "Pure Pākati Design Information". Klim.co.nz. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  11. Wood, Alan (15 May 2015). "100% Pure NZ to get a refresh at Trenz tourism conference". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  12. Garcia, Mario (15 September 2014). "Financial Times: A classic redesign for the digital age". Poynter.org. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  13. Sowersby, Kris (15 September 2014). "Financier Design Information". Klim. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  14. "Klim Type Foundry and The Financial Times. Financier Typeface Family". Best Awards. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  15. "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.
  16. "Geograph Design Information". Klim Type Foundry. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  17. "Earle and Marden". Type Supply. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  18. "National Geographic Nameplate". Type Supply. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  19. "Klim Type Foundry · PayPal Sans Design Information". klim.co.nz. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
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