Carl J. Kurtz
Visual Designer

Contact

Carl J. Kurtz

  E-mail:    mail@carljkurtz.de

  Instagram: c.kurtz

  LinkedIn:  Carl J. Kurtz

  GitHub:    CarlJKurtz

About

Carl J. Kurtz is a freelance graphic designer in Hamburg, Germany. Typography and type design are the focus of his work, both in his client projects, private projects and in projects for his studies at the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg.


For Carl, the methods and tools in design are as important as the final product. In type design, for instance, he finds inspiration in the intersection of visual design, research, and technical precision—a blend that forms a uniquely dynamic process.


He often ventures beyond classical design tools, integrating programming into his projects to gain more control and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Two black rectangles on a white surface.

Two black rectangles on a white surface.

Brass perpetual calendar with sun motif in the center

[Nov. 2023]

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SmartGrids

SmartGrids is an application that allows you to easily configure and preview modular typography grids.

Software interface with preview of grid system in center

SmartGrids is an application I wrote in Python and published on GitHub. It allows you to quickly create and preview different typographic rasters based on several inputs. While this was nothing impossible before, it automates and speeds up the non-creative math part tremendously.

[Feb. 2025]

Blue cicle with text ai inside in script font.

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Perpetual

Perpetual is an iOS app that translates the passage of time into a clear, intuitive visual format.

Mockup of widgets of the Perpetual app on iPhone and Macbook

Perpetual is an iOS app that translates the passage of time into a clear, intuitive visual format. Instead of relying on a traditional calendar grid, the app focuses on the relation between passed time and remaining time. While not giving a specific date, it visualizes how far along in the week, month or year you are.

Black and white animation of a cursor dragging and opening a document.