See more objects with the tag graphic design, black and white, typography, digital print, fonts, typographers, text as image, transformative.

Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

2014

  • Work on this object began.

2016

2025

  • You found it!

Specimen, Maelstrom typeface

This is a Specimen. It was designed by Kris Sowersby and made for Klim Type Foundry. It is dated 2014. Its medium is digital print.

Maelstrom is a display face that reverses the expected stress of a typeface. The horizontal strokes are heavy and vertical strokes are thin, giving the letters a strange and unsettling quality. Sowersby is a leader in the field of typeface design; he offers his wares to the global design community through his Klim Type Foundry.

This object was donated by Kris Sowersby. It is credited Courtesy of Klim Type Foundry.

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Its dimensions are

H x W: 89.2 × 65.1 cm (35 1/8 × 25 5/8 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Beauty—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

For higher resolution or commercial use contact ArtResource.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/69155189/ |title=Specimen, Maelstrom typeface |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=11 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>