Klim Type Foundry

Klim Type Foundry (Klim) is a New Zealand type-design studio and commercial font foundry founded by Kris Sowersby in 2005. It is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand. The foundry describes its foundational ethos as “a thing well made” and says its typefaces combine historical knowledge with rigorous contemporary craft. Klim’s retail catalogue offers typefaces for a range of uses, from small and functional to large and decorative. The foundry says its fonts can be licensed for physical and digital applications. Its catalogue includes families and collections such as Founders Grotesk, National 2, Söhne, Tiempos, Untitled Sans, Untitled Serif, Die Grotesk, American Grotesk, and Martina Plantijn. Klim also designs custom fonts for clients. The company identifies The Financial Times, PayPal, and National Geographic as international custom-font clients, and Bank of New Zealand, Trade Me, and Tourism New Zealand as clients closer to home. The foundry presents examples of its typefaces in use by international brands, institutions, and businesses. It reports that its fonts are included in Apple’s operating system from macOS Catalina 10.15.4. Its work has received awards; the company notes that the Epicene Collection received a Gold Cube from the ADC and a Certificate of Typographic Excellence from the TDC. Klim’s website continues to present its type catalogue, font-in-use examples, and design information.

Klim Type Foundry was founded by Kris Sowersby in 2005 and is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand. The company’s account of its practice centres on the idea of making “a thing well made”: it draws on historical knowledge while applying contemporary craft to type design. Its approach treats the alphabet as something made concrete through written and designed letterforms, and views it as expressible through many typefaces rather than being defined by a single one. Sowersby released his first retail typeface, Feijoa, in 2007. The foundry’s later work has included retail font families for different functions and scales, as well as custom typefaces designed for clients. Its catalogue includes sans-serif and serif families, text and display designs, and families with multiple widths or styles. Klim describes its retail fonts as licensable for physical and digital applications, and its website presents examples of the work in use by international brands, institutions, and businesses. Custom-font work has been part of the foundry’s client activity. Klim names The Financial Times, PayPal, and National Geographic among its international clients, and Bank of New Zealand, Trade Me, and Tourism New Zealand among clients closer to home. One documented project is Story Sans, designed for Trade Me in 2016. Klim describes it as a screen-first grotesk typeface aligned with Trade Me’s brand, values, and tone of voice; its design drew on typographic analysis that identified Akzidenz Grotesk as a suitable model. Klim’s typefaces have also been adopted in wider digital contexts: the company says its fonts are included in Apple’s operating system from macOS Catalina 10.15.4. The foundry reports awards for its work, including a Gold Cube from the ADC and a Certificate of Typographic Excellence from the TDC for the Epicene Collection. Its current public-facing work includes its font catalogue, design information, and examples of typefaces in use.

• 2016

  Story Sans designed for Trade Me

• 2007

  First retail typeface released

• 2005

  Klim Type Foundry founded

• Epicene Collection receives awards

• Klim fonts included in Apple operating system

A type foundry focused on well-made typefaces that combine historical knowledge with contemporary craft, offering both retail fonts and custom type design.

• Founders Grotesk

  A retail typeface family listed in Klim’s catalogue.

• National 2

  A retail typeface family with narrow, condensed, and compressed offerings listed by Klim.

• Söhne

  A retail typeface family listed alongside Söhne Mono, Söhne Schmal, and Söhne Breit.

• Tiempos

  A retail family listed in Fine, Headline, and Text variants.

• Untitled Sans and Untitled Serif

  Retail type families listed in Klim’s catalogue.

• Story Sans

  A screen-first grotesk typeface designed for Trade Me in 2016.

1. 1Klim Type Foundryklim.co.nz
2. 2About · Klim Type Foundryklim.co.nz
3. 3Story Sans custom fonts · Klim Type Foundryklim.co.nz