Kimera foundry on having its typeface front the Oscar-winning film, Sentimental Value

Kimera foundry is an independent outfit that puts one process at the forefront of everything it does: research. Founded by designer Michael Clasen, every project at Kimera begins with an investigation into “how historical ideas can be translated into contemporary typefaces that meet the requirements of today’s technology”. Each of the Munich-based foundry’s carefully considered typefaces – from the early-70s-infused, ink-trap-heavy Apparat and the warm, modernist Melange Grotesk – to bespoke projects like the logo for London’s Athene run club, are an indication of this dedication to context and craft.

If there’s one typeface that’s particularly close to Michael’s heart it’s Waldenburg, named after his small hometown in southwest Germany. He views it as a “quiet love letter” to his place of origin. A sans serif designed with both analogue and digital applications in mind, it balances a humanist core with a mathematically precise construction, and it’s defined by its long, elegant x-height. “Conceptually it combines the early rationalism of Akzidenz Grotesk with the calligraphic warmth associated with Univers,” says Michael, “aiming to balance structural clarity with a slightly more human tone.” It’s flexible too. After a long process of iteration, it exists, as Michael describes it, as a “superfamily” with a sizeable 24 cuts.

Waldenburg recently got a whole new audience of cinefiles appreciating its elongated forms when it was used to promote Joachim Trier’s cinematic masterpiece (and now Best international feature Oscar-winner) Sentimental Value. It was applied in its brilliant geometric poster (which sees the faces of each key character spliced into boxes decreasingly in size, contained within each other) and various other promotional material. “After spending years developing a typeface, seeing it take on a life outside the studio is always incredibly rewarding – especially when it becomes part of something as visible and culturally present as a film campaign,” says Michael. The closely constructed simplicity and tight kerning of Waldenburg suits the tone of the Scandinavian feature perfectly, giving its often claustrophobic themes – inter-generational familial trauma and the emotional resonance of architecture – the sophisticated typographic treatment they deserve.

“It’s always fascinating to watch a typeface move from the slow and often solitary process of drawing letters into a broader cultural context where it then truly comes alive,” ends Michael. “It’s rare for a typeface of an independent type foundry to become part of something that’s so culturally significant, and we couldn’t be more proud to see Waldenburg used in this way.”