TDC Launches Global “Type Drives Communities 2021” Virtual Conference

The Type Directors Club (TDC) announced the launch of Type Drives Communities, a global conference that will explore the ways typography is used to form and transform creative communities.

Taking place online on May 7-8, 2021, the conference includes two half-days of talks, presentations and group discussion spanning a broad range of design disciplines, and both local and global communities.  Early-bird registration for reduced-price tickets is available through April 12, 2021.  

Sessions will highlight communities that use typography to pursue a common purpose, establish intergenerational connections, and spark and sustain change. Discussions will also encompass what these strategies suggest about how designers might navigate the challenges of our present moment of physical distance and virtual connection.

TDC, part of The One Club for Creativity, has assembled a top global panel of diverse voices to share their experiences in driving communities, including:

  • Hussein Alazaat. cofounder, creative director, ALAZAAT Design Studio, Amman
  • Yani Arabena, partner, Yani&Guille, Buenos Aires
  • Andreu Balius, founder, creative director, Type Republic, partner, Typecraft Initiative, Barcelona
  • Tereza Bettinardi, cofounder, creative director, Tereza Bettinardi, São Paulo
  • Fernanda Cozzi, independent type designer, founder, FerCozzi, Buenos Aires
  • Fungai Dube, cofounder, creative director, Fungi Dube Graphics, Harare (Zimbabwe)
  • Rubén Fontana, cofounder, FontanaDiseño, TC Medallist, Buenos Aires
  • Tapiwanashe Sebastian Garikayi, cofounder, creative director, Sebgarry Design Branding, Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe)
  • Lisa Huang, type designer, Paris
  • Ishan Khosla, partner, The Typecraft Initiative, Dehradun (India)
  • Prem Krishnamurthy, cofounder, partner, Wkshps, Berlin and New York (keynote)
  • Batsirai Madzonga, experience design lead, Memac Ogilvy, Dubai
  • Saki Mafundikwa, designer, typographer and director of the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA), Harare (Zimbabwe)
  • Jo Malinis, graphic designer, Plus63 Design Co., Hydra Design Group, Manila
  • Julio Martínez, partner and creative director, studio1500, San Francisco
  • Sol Matas, independent type designer, cofounder, Practica Program, Berlin
  • Laura Meseguer, custom lettering and type design, Laura Meseguer, Barcelona
  • Giang Nguyen, creative director, founder, Behalf Studio, Ho-Chi-Minh City 
  • Ale Paul, cofounder, Sudtipos Foundry, Buenos Aires
  • Ariel Seoane, cofounder, Buena Letra Shop, Montevideo (Uruguay)
  • Paul Soulellis, founder, director, Queer.Archive.Work, Providence
  • Osmond Tshuma, cofounder, creative director, Mam’gobozi Design Factory, Johannesburg
  • Mariana Álvarez Uribe, independent editorial and type designer, Medellín
  • Diego Vainesman, design director, 40N47 Design, New York
  • Panos Vassiliou, founder, lead type designer, Parachute Typefoundry, Typeroom, Athens
  • Guille Vizzari, partner, Yani&Guille, Buenos Aires

“Type Drives Communities celebrates several designers who are using typography and design as the catalyst to connect people during the pandemic, as well as through several generations,” said conference co-chair Paul Carlos, principal, Pure+Applied, New York; adjunct faculty, Parsons School of Design, The New School.  

He added sessions will also show how different communities are tackling immediate and long-standing issues such as decolonization and cultural hegemony, and highlight some of our global members who will show us how they are influenced by the typography in their city.

“Although the pandemic obliged us to launch our first virtual conference, we really wanted to infuse the event with a communal spirit”, said conference co-chair Zelda Harrison, principal, ZHarrison & Associates/ZELDESIGN, Los Angeles.  “We will encourage early-bird registrants to help us moderate roundtable sessions, showcase their work for sale in our virtual marketplace, and urge attendees to engage with speakers in intimate, small group sessions.” 

Type Drive Communities is made possible in part through the support of sponsors Adobe, Occupant, Mark Simonson Studio, VLLG, Morisawa and Commercial.

More information about this upcoming conference and registration is available here.