Type Directors Club

The Type Directors Club '' is an international organization devoted to typography and type design, founded in 1946 in New York City.

WWW Official Site 𝕏 typedirectors YT UCjKXDLrb6mrftD1NW-r4l5w

Mission

TDC believes that type drives culture, and that culture drives type—and is dedicated to cataloging, showcasing, and exhibiting typography worldwide.
Founding member Milton Zudek described the club's goals at their first exhibit opening in 1947:

Timeline

1943: The club was started as an unofficial gathering in 1943. Founding member Milton Zudeck described the club’s goals: “We simply want to make more and more advertising people aware of the important of the agency typographer. We want them to realize that the selection of type for an advertisement demands a sixth sense that goes beyond the basic knowledge of typefaces.”
1946: The Type Directors Club organization was formed by several leading NY art directors, including Aaron Burns, Louis Dorfsman and Milton Zudeck.
1960: The TDC was composed of men for many years until 1960 when they recruited its first woman member, designer Beatrice Warde. Today, the Beatrice Warde Scholarship stands to commemorate Beatrice Warde and all her contributions to the field of typography and to the TDC.
1967: The TDC medal is the organization's most prestigious award dedicated to the artful craft of type and typography. As of 2022 there have been 34 medalists. in 1967 the first TDC medal was awarded to Hermann Zapf.
1987: The TDC’s first international conference Type 1987 was held in Manhattan, giving participants the opportunity to gather with “stars” from outside the US like Adrian Frutiger and Neville Brody.
2018: As part of a rebranding led by Debbie Millman, the TDC adopted the Type Drives Culture conference slogan. The same year, the club held the first Ascenders competition, aimed to promote the hottest designers under 35; and created a BIPOC scholarship, which was later renamed the Adé Hogue Scholarship.
2022: The TDC merged with The One Club
2022: Upon the TDC’s reopening, Ksenya Samarskaya was appointed as TDC Managing Director with a mission to make it more open, diverse, and culturally engaging. TDC hosted Ezhishin, the first conference about Native North American typography. Type Drives Culture 22 conference held various sessions with the overarching theme “Type: The Next 75 Years”.

TDC Medal

The TDC Medal is awarded for significant contributions to typography.

Competitions

In 1955 the first TDC competition was held to recognize outstanding work in the profession. Since the 1950s the TDC has been holding yearly type competitions: one for the use of type and the letterform in design and the other, typeface design. The winners are reproduced in the Typography Annual, as well as displayed in seven exhibits that travel worldwide. In addition to celebrating outstanding achievements, the typography competitions and resulting annuals serve as important historical records of typographic trends, and are an invaluable resource for both designers and scholars.

Typography

Previously known as Communication Design, the Typography competition is the extension of the original competition started in the 1950s.

Type Design

The Type Directors Club Type Design Awards are given annually for excellence in typeface design. The award is generally viewed as being the most prestigious in the field.

Type Design Winners by Year

Year	Winner
2000	Arcana Manuscript, Biblon, Blue Island, Cholla Slab, FF Clifford, Costa, Erica Sans, Homemade, Bitstream Kis Cyrillic, Klin, Mexica, Mirra, Diwan Mishafi, Myriad Pro Greek, Nani, Profile, Silentium Pro, Linotype Syntax
2001	ITC Aspera, Basilica, Linotype Conrad, Eplica, Hierarchy, Litteratra, Manuscript, Maya, Preissig, Really, Terminator, Warnock Pro, Zentra
2002	Text: Dreamer DD, Pradell, Whitman; Display: Alphatier, Azuza, Dearest, Globetrotter, ITC Jeepers, Keester, Media Core 3, Woodley Park; Type System: Brioso Pro, Federal, Rialto, Siemens
2003	Text: Arabic Typesetting, Carlin Script, Gentium, Laurentian; Display: Falafil, ITC Keefbats, Sakkal Seta Pro; Type System: Fontana ND, FF Strada, FTF Morgan, Full Moon Suite, Press Family, Suite, Sauna, ITC Tactile
2004	Text: Ardbeg, Argot, Maiola, Nyala, MS Uighur; Display: Brunn, Buttress, Sava Pro; Type System: Amira, Amplitude, FF Angkoon, Expo Sans, Farnham, Houston, Noam, FF Unit, Zocalo
2005	Text: Fabiol, Minuscule; Display: Bello, Bublik, Bunker, Dolce, Ed Gothic, Ed Script, Elementis, Pirouette, DB SantiPap, Scheck, Shipflat, Shoutenkaku / Shoutenmaru; Type System: FF Absara, Auto, Calibri, Rumba; Ornament: Super-Veloz
2006	Text: Aniene, Adobe Arabic, Calouste, Quixote; Display: Darka, Hogariet, Rayuela Chocolate 2.0, P22 Sweepy; Type System: Frutiger Next Greek, Garamond Premier Pro, Piclig, Relato Sans, Vista Sans; Ornament: FF Headz
2007	Text: Corundum Text, Greta Text, Untitled, EMT Lorena, Midan, Olga, Tisa; Type System: Arno Pro, Beorcana, Fakir, Nassim, Palatino Sans and Palatino Sans Informal, Quiosco, Xtra Sans; Display: Flexion, Manicotti, Peanut, Subtil; Ornament: Gregoria
2008	Text: Al Rajhi, Fondo, Marat, OTS Ethiopic, Palatino Arabic, Vodafone Hindi, Tiina; Type System: Anselm, Gloriola Standard and Display, National, Presidencia; Display: Blaktur, Burgues Script, Fresco Arabic, Logo Jr Black, Mommie, Sable, Slant, Swing, Ventura; Ornament: Restraint
2009	Text: Adios Script, Montague Script, Alda, Copte Scripte; Display: Klimax Bold, Nebulon, Optica Normal, Orbe
2010	Ingeborg, Deliscript, Kazuraki, Urbana Lnd, Joos, Espinosa Nova, Lavigne Display, ITC Legacy Square Serif Pro, Retiro, Narziss, Rieven, Fugu, Ysobel, Rum Black, Aisha, DecoType Nastaliq
2011	Brandon Grotesque, Eames Century Modern, Aero, Palatino Sans Arabic, Tundra, Amalta, Thuraya Regular, Shift, Supria Sans, FF Suhmo, News, Daisy, Matrona, Tabati, Nori, Eventide, Enzian, Elegy, Poem, Eames Poster Numerals
2012	Hipster Script, Chiavari, Balkan, La República, DecoType Ruq‘ah, Sutturah, Mr. Porter, Rekja, Greta Arabic, Harriet, Smidgen, Vibro, FF Mister K Informal
2013	Athena Ruby, JAF Bernini Sans, Karol, The Brill Family, Tegaki, Blanco, Vinter, Days and Nights, FF Chartwell, Baldufa, Iskra, Erotica, Agmena™, Jocham
2014	Sori, Metro Nova, Odesta, Azer, Pizza Press, Columbia Titling, Amplify, Chimera, Mislab, Duplicate Ionic, FF Quixo, Argentina, Ogg, Lalola, DecoType Nastaleeq Press, Venecia, Medusa, Flirt Script, MZhiHei Ultra Bold, Cloud Mountain Type, FREE, Bungee, Marcel Script, Chapitre Regular
2015	GT Sectra, Woodkit, Brando, Domaine Sans, Valter, Inei Mincho, Love Script, M Gentle Bold, Signo, A23D, Bustan Bold, Lale, Mohtaraf, Gibbs, Input, Proto Grotesk, Haltrix, Hollie Script Pro, Minotaur, Big Moore, GE Inspira Sans and Serif, M Ellan Light
2016	BC Mikser, Mornic, Tremolo, Bressay, Acanto Regia, Infini, Froben Antiqua, Zico, Bustani, Greta Arabic, The Spirit of Cursive Script, Greta Sans Hebrew, Bixa
2017	Salvaje, Lingering Fonts, Nordvest, Qandu, Bely, Sharp Grotesk, Qingyu Lishu, PILOT, Graebenbach, Lalezar, Laica, Rando, Renault Carname, Stratos, Eva
2018	Mirza, Lamon, IBM Plex, Source Han Serif, Noort, Origen, Teddy, Palago, Harrison Serif Pro, Read Greek Condensed, Koning, Vazeh, Ray, Artigo Display, Guyot, Oi!, Kinetic, Greta Text Hebrew
2019	Crochet, Rizado Script, New York Serif UI by Apple, Glinko Modern, Jali, Orientation, Ribaasu, Adobe Telugu, Minerale, No Molestar!, Sandwich, Sig, Pyk, Chek Lap sans, Faune, FR kraken slab, Heldane, Hope Sans, Pilat, Gustella, Punta Display, Le murmure.
2020
2021	Arabic Protest, Baryton, Coca-Cola Care, Garaje, Grab Community, Hebrew/Latin Extended, Hong Kong Beiwei Zansyu, Huai, Le Rosart, LiebeHeide Color, Lyon Arabic, Rail Alphabet 2, Retail, SF Symbols 2, Signifier, Super Condensed Devanagari, Vasakronan Serif, Vazeh Classic Quranic
2022	Amaala Arabic, ANEK Indic, Charisma, Englisch, FZ GuoMeiJinDao, FZ QianLongXingShu, Goldich, Greta Armenian, Hanyi yihexianjing, Jinhua Mincho, Klaket, Kristal, Lava Syllabics, Margit, Mithaq, Norbert, November Tamil, Oceanic, Platia, Qing Mocai Lishu, Resonay, RVS Basic, SF Arabic, SF Symbols 3, Shinbakusai Reisho, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, The Epicene Collection, The Mānuka Collection, Uwabami, YouTube Sans Arabic

Lettering

Started in 2022.

Ascenders

In 2018, the TDC inaugurated Ascenders, a competition to recognize the achievements of designers 35 years of age and younger. In its inaugural year, TDC honored nineteen Ascenders from around the world.

TDC Annual — World’s Best Typography

TDC produces a design annual that features award-winning typography. The 2017 publication, The World's Best Type and Typography, was designed by Leftloft of Milan.

Scholarships

Beatrice Warde Scholarship
Winners receive a $5,000 USD award as well as a free one-year student membership to the TDC, offering discounts and other opportunities for conferences and events.
Previous winners of the award include Doah Kwon Ximena Amaya, Tatiana Lopez, Blossom Liu, Anna Skoczeń, Tasnima Tanzim, Ania Wieluńska, and Rebecca Bartola.
Ade Hogue Scholarship
Formerly known as the Superscript scholarship. Previous winners of the award include Ana Robles and Sakinah Bell
Ezhishin Scholarship
Started in 2023, the annual $5,000 scholarship, funded by Google, is for Native American and First Nation individuals in the US and Canada, respectively, who exemplify a creative practice that explores typography, type design, or relevant linguistic work. Winners receive a $5,000 USD award as well as a free one-year student membership to the TDC, offering discounts and other opportunities for conferences and events.