Typography Competitions. Part 1

For procrastinators, choosing an ongoing competition is a great opportunity to start and (mainly!) finish a project, because deadlines keep us moving in the right direction. Or a direction, which is better than no direction. Needless to say, a competition is also a smart way to get your work noticed by professionals who can become your future colleagues, employees, employers, sponsors, groupies, and so on.

In today’s post we want to save you some time and give you a few suggestions of relevant typography competitions. We start with three annual competitions, and next Monday we’ll add more to the list. Here they are:

Type Directors Club

1

The Type Directors Club (TDC) in New York City has been holding an annual competition for the best use of type in graphic design since the 1950s. So, even if you have missed the deadline this year, there’s always next year. You can take part in two main categories: Communication Design or/and Typeface Design. Participants need to enter original typefaces or professional / student work designed in the previous year. Before you start working on it, make sure that you also check the rules, the fees and the previous winners for some inspiration.

Typography Competition

2

There’s plenty of time to enter this juried competition which celebrates the best use of typography as the primary visual element in design and advertising, plus new typeface designs, calligraphy and handlettering. Any typographic project first printed or produced from September 2012 through September 2013 is eligible. Talking about ‘important exposure’, it’s good to know that the selected entries will be distributed worldwide in the Communication Arts Typography Annual and on commarts.com. Winning should place you in the highest ranks of your profession. Give it a try!

Typography Day 2013 Poster Contest

3

Typography Day is organized for the sixth time in 2013 at the Department of Design (DoD) at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati in collaboration with other centers and institutes. The event took place this past weekend and featured a day of workshops on Typography and Calligraphy followed by two days of conference dedicated to display typography. This year’s theme for the poster competition was “Between the Lines”. A big plus is that participants can use their native script and language, calligraphic or digitally created letterforms or existing fonts, or a combination of these. Winning entries are published and displayed in an exhibition during the event. Also, there is no entry fee and anyone can take part. Keep an eye on in the coming year!

If you still have second thoughts about getting involved, then maybe you should imagine how proud your CV will parade around with that handsome ‘awards and competitions’ shiny section. Talking of which, what do you make of competitions? Have you recently taken part in one? Do you have any recommendations? Looking forward to hearing from you.

But don’t forget: Get involved!

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