What work is eligible?
If you created your work during 2022, and it includes visible language anywhere in there (ideally as a focal point or main eliment), it’s eligible!
This year we have expanded to three main categories to better represent the incredible work we’re seeing, they are: Typography, Lettering, and Type Design. You’re welcome to submit to more than one category if applicable, and expand your chances of winning as each category is reviewed by its own set of expert judges.
What does winning mean?
The TDC competition, established in 1953, is the longest running, most prestigious, global typography and type design competition. Atop acknowledgement and a Certificate of Typographic Excellence from the TDC, winners in this highly esteemed competition are published in the World’s Greatest Typography annual compendium, and included in eight international touring exhibitions—a unique honor among award showcases. Since TDC’s merging with The One Club for Creativity in 2020, winners are also included in the Global Award Rankings.
What does winning mean?
Absolutely anyone involved in the project can enter the project—the designer, publisher, printer; anyone at all involved in any aspect of the project can create an entry. Just make sure you credit everyone appropriately upon winning.
Who’s judging TDC69?
Our judges are top typographic practitioners from around the world. The jury is chosen each year by TDC’s Advisory Board, whose aim is to balance deep expertise with a wide range of perspectives. We have eight judges for each of our three disciplines, listed below.
Typography Judges
Typography is for any creation that uses type, lettering, or written langauge—be it print design, digital design, immersive experiences, architecture, fashion, film titles, social media campaigns, or otherwise.
Angira Chokshi, London/New York
Chon Hin Au, Macau
David Jalbert-Gagnier, New York/Paris
Faride Mereb, New York
Diana Haj-Ahmad, San Francisco/Ramallah
Kris Andrew Small, Sydney
Erika Reyes Angel, Los Angeles
Vincent Wagner, Vienna
Halle Kho, New York
Jaimey Shapey, Los Angeles
Lynda Lucas, Brooklyn
Simon Charwey, Accra/New Haven
Lettering Judges
Lettering is for work where the letters are either modified or created—this could entail traditional or abstract calligraphy, tattoos, wordmarks and custom logotypes, or typefaces that are just a little too out there to be classic typeface design.
Giorgia Lupi, New York
Hussein Alazaat, Amman
Huston Wilson, Johannesburg
Lauren Hom, Detroit
Milo Kossowski, New York/Melbourne
Nick Misani, Oxford
Seb Lester, Lewes (England)
Ximena Jiménez, Bogota
Type Design Judges
Type Design is for entries showcasing the design of workable font software; this could mean single typefaces, type families, emoji or symbol fonts, or software for generating and creating type.
Anuthin Wongsunkakon, Bangkok
Cheng Xunchang, Beijing/Reading
Kateryna Korolevtseva, Kyiv
Linda Hintz, Copenhagen
Naïma Ben Ayed, London/Marseille
Parimal Parmar, New Delhi
Vinod Nair, Kuala Lumpur
Yanghee Ryu, Seoul/Cambridge
How much does it cost?
Fees vary based on what you enter, when you enter, and from where. The most inexpensive fees are by the first deadline, November 22nd, then incrementally increase for our regular deadline on January 17th, and our final deadline on March 3rd.
To make our competitions as accessible and equitable as possible, we’ve introduced purchasing power parity, with half of the world’s nations getting 60% off, and another quarter getting a 20% discount. And, as always, TDC members receive discounts as well.
Continue on to competition.tdc.org for more rules and regulations, and to start your entry!
