Type Directors Club

The Type Directors Club (TDC) is an international professional organization devoted to typography and type design, founded in 1946 in New York City. It hosts competitions, events and exhibitions, produces publications, and awards scholarships that recognize outstanding design work in the fields of type design, typography and lettering. Since 2022, it's part of the non-profit organization The One Club.

Mission

TDC 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:

History

1943: The club was started as an unofficial gathering in New York City.^[2]

1946: The Type Directors Club organization was formed by several leading New York-based art directors, including Aaron Burns, Louis Dorfsman and Milton Zudeck.^[3] Membership to the organization was limited to men, was by invitation only and required a sponsorship by an existing member and a submission of one's portfolio, a process that remained unchanged until 1980s.^[4]

1959: On April 18, the TDC held Typography USA, a seminar at Biltmore Hotel in New York,^[5] with speakers that included Saul Bass, Paul Rand, Herbert Bayer, Lester Beall, William Golden, Leo Lionni, Herb Lubalin, and Ladislav Sutnar.^[4]

1960: The TDC recruited its first woman member, type designer and scholar Beatrice Warde.^[3]

1967: The TDC medal is first awarded as the organization's most prestigious award, dedicated to the artful craft of type and typography, to German type designer Hermann Zapf.^[3]

1987: The TDC’s first international conference Type 1987 was held in Manhattan, giving participants the opportunity to gather with celebrated international designers from outside the U.S. like Adrian Frutiger and Neville Brody.^[3]

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 best designers under 35, and created a BIPOC scholarship, which was later renamed the Adé Hogue Scholarship.^[3]

2022: The TDC merged with The One Club.^[3][6]

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.^[7] Type Drives Culture 22 conference held various sessions with the overarching theme “Type: The Next 75 Years”.^[8][9]

TDC Medal

The TDC Medal is awarded for significant contributions to typography.^{[citation needed]}

Competitions

In 1955 the first TDC competition was held to recognize outstanding work in the profession.^[13] Since then, the TDC has been holding two yearly type competitions: one for the use of type and the letterform in design, and the other for typeface design.^[6] 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 historical records of typographic trends referenced by designers and scholars.^{[citation needed]}

Typography

Previously known as Communication Design competition, the Typography competition is the extension of the original competition started in the 1950s.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

Type design competition winners

Lettering

Started in 2022.^[16]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Annual publications

TDC produces a design annual that features works awarded in its competition.^{[citation needed]}

Scholarships

Beatrice Warde Scholarship

The Beatrice Warde Scholarship stands to commemorate Beatrice Warde, the first female member of TDC, and all her contributions to the field of typography and to the TDC.^[18]

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 (2022) Ximena Amaya (2021), Tatiana Lopez (2020), Blossom Liu (2019), Anna Skoczeń (2018), Tasnima Tanzim (2017), Ania Wieluńska (2016), and Rebecca Bartola (2015).^[19]

Adé Hogue Scholarship

Adé Hogue scholarship, named since 2022 in honor of lettering designer Broderick Adé Hogue, was formerly known as the Superscript scholarship. A $5,000 prize, it's awarded annually to an outstanding junior college or first-year graduate degree BIPOC student demonstrating exceptional talent and promise in the design and creation of letterforms.^[20] Previous winners of the award include Ana Robles (2022) and Sakinah Bell (2021)^[19]

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.^[21]

Sponsors

The TDC has been sponsored by A to A Studio Solutions, Adobe Typeset, Typeset Design Matters, Designer Journals, Facebook Analog Research Laboratory, Firebelly, Google, Glyphs, Monotype, Morisawa, Pandora, School of Visual Arts, SVA Masters in Branding, Type Network which help to support the following initiatives:^{[citation needed]}

• TDC Typography Annual
• Student scholarships
• Salons in NYC and other US cities
• Educational workshops
• TDC Book Night
• TDC Competition Judges Night
• New York exhibitions at TDC
• International exhibitions of competition winners
• Special events

References

1. ^ Heller, Steve (2022-02-02). "TDC is Back in Orbit Again"
2. ^ Grant, Angelynn (2 February 2012). "Type Directors Club Turns 65". Communication Arts. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
3. ^ "TDC in facts, dates and figures". The Faces Behind Typefaces. Readymag. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
4. ^ "Type Directors Club Turns 65". Communication Arts. 2012-02-02. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
5. ^ "Typography–USA: “What is new in American typography?” [Will Burtin, Aa". Display, Graphic Design Collection. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
6. ^ "The One Club for Creativity Merges With the Type Directors Club". PRINT Magazine. 2020-10-14. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
7. ^ Greenberg, Ilana (2022-06-20). "TDC Sets First Confab On Native North American Typography". Graphic Design USA. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
8. ^ "Type Directors Club announces 'Type Drives Culture 2022' virtual conference". Bizcommunity
9. ^ magazine, adobo (January 24, 2022). "Events: Type Directors Club announces "Type Drives Culture 2022" virtual conference"
10. ^ "TDC Medal Recipients". Archived from the original on 2012-09-03.
11. ^ Greenberg, Ilana (September 14, 2022). "Akira Kobayashi To Receive TDC Medal"
12. ^ "TDC Medalists - Type Directors Club". Retrieved 2026-05-09.
13. ^ "Type Directors Club announces 'Type Drives Culture 2022' virtual conference March 4-5". January 19, 2022.
14. ^ "TDC Type Design Winners". Archived from the original on 2012-09-03.
15. ^ "TDC Winners 2000". Archived 2012-07-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
16. ^ "Type Directors Club Announces Changes for Annual Competition as TDC69 Kicks Off | LBBOnline". Archived 2025-05-16 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
17. ^ "TDC Annual Designer"
18. ^ "TDC in facts, dates and figures". The Faces Behind Typefaces. Readymag. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
19. ^ Magazine, PRINT (December 15, 2020). "Type Tuesday: TDC Announces Scholarship Call for Female-Identifying and BIPOC Students". PRINT Magazine
20. ^ "Type Directors Club announces recipients of 2025 Global Scholarship Program". adobo Magazine Online. 2025-12-16. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
21. ^ "TDC and Google Announce Ezhishin Scholarship For Native North American Students of Typography". TDC. 21 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.

External links

• Official website
• TDC Annuals