Klim Type Foundry launches new typeface collection Söhne with kinetic films by DIA

According to Klim Type Foundry’s director and lead designer Kris Sowerby, their new typeface Söhne is “the memory of Akzidenz-Grotesk framed through the reality of Helvetica.” It captures the analogue materiality of ‘Standard Medium’, the original typeface used in Unimark’s legendary wayfinding system for the New York Subway. As a collection, the typeface is comprised of four families: Söhne, Söhne Schmal (Condensed), Söhne Breit (Wide) and Söhne Mono, each with sixteen different styles. While the Söhne collection provides almost infinite opportunities for display and text presentation, Sowersby has an affinity for two specific weights, Halbfett and Fett, which have “solid, confident, poster-like qualities that resonate with my personal concept of Azkidenz-Grotesk”. To mark the release of Söhne, Klim teamed up with New York and Geneva-based branding agency DIA, known for their innovative use of kinetic typography. They created a series of films that were developed as ‘grotesque accidents’, but evolved to capture a sense of materiality and memory.