In recognition of the typographic flourishing of world scripts and the increasing volume of high-quality typefaces designed each year, TDC is expanding its renowned typeface design competition to include three breakout categories for the Arabic script, Indic scripts, and CJK (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) scripts. This is a landmark moment in the history of the competition, bringing on three expert judges for each category, thereby increasing the overall number of judges from five to fourteen.

For many years now, TDC has celebrated excellence in type design by recognizing outstanding typefaces from all over the world. Each year, the judges have been supported by a large number of world script experts who consult on non-Latin entries. Over the years, the percentage of global entries and competition winners has grown, which has now prompted the expansion of the competition judging to reflect the developments in international type design. This is in recognition of the typographic renaissance that many of these scripts are experiencing, and the rising tide of great talent seen on a global scale.

In order to give justice to these scripts and to make room for multitudes of expression to be celebrated, the invited judges bring a variety of experiences and world views, and the upcoming events and judging calls will serve as starting points for interesting conversations as to how one can define excellence in type design across these scripts. Is there a universal definition for excellence in type design, or are there regional variations as to what one can expect from typefaces? And how one can place these designs within the overall history of typographic development of these scripts?

Read more about the behind-the-scenes and our thought process at Typographica, and join the judges for in-depth conversation around Arabic, Indic, and CJK scripts. Currently on FB Live / Zoom.