Previously, all TDC competition winners received the same Certificate of Typographic Excellence. While each winner is among the world's best typographic practitioners, the organisation felt it owed it to the profession to acknowledge and elevate the work that stands out above the rest, says the organisation.

Called the TDC Type-High award, the handsomely designed physical object can now be displayed on desks and bookshelves, representing achievement of creative excellence and serving as a constant visual inspiration for typographers, type designers and lettering artists. Gold, Silver and Bronze Type-High awards and Merit certificates will be presented starting this year, adds the organisation.

The new award was designed and named by Graham Clifford, longtime TDC collaborator, life member and organisation Chairman Emeritus, says the organisation.

Among his primary considerations were that the award should be a statement piece suitable for display, reflect the TDC's long and rich history, and utilise a manufacturing process that prioritises sustainable materials to create an environmentally friendly object, adds the organisation.

The newly minted piece balances a tip of the hat with a knowing wink. It's milled from a single piece of sustainably harvested bamboo, and rests on a plinth. The award stands a stately 7 inches (or 42 picas) tall and measures exactly 0.918 inches deep, the precise thickness of traditional foundry type, says the organisation.

In a clever design detail, the Franklin Gothic Condensed lowercase "t" is mirrored, so that it would print correctly if used — as physical type was — to transfer ink to paper, adds the organisation.

"The name Type-High does double duty," says Clifford, who also designed the TDC Best of Show awards. "It signals excellence, that TDC winners represent the highest standard of typographic craft. It also roots the award in the very origins of the field: a nod to the mechanical legacy that shaped the digital future."

"This new direction brings a touch more personality and permanence to the annual recognition, making it feel less like an abstract accolade and more like a well-earned artifact," says Joe Newton, TDC Executive Director. "It's smart. It's solid. It belongs on your bookshelf, on your proud parents' mantelpiece, or perfectly framed behind you in your next video call."

The TDC competition has a rich, seven-plus decade history of recognising creative excellence, as determined by the highly qualified expertise of its judges. Introduction of the Type-High awards allows the organisation to elevate meaningful differences in quality and expertise: all winners are great, some of them are greater than the rest, says the organisation.

TDC72 Competition Details

TDC72, the latest iteration of TDC's annual competition, consists of three disciplines: Communication Design, Lettering and Type Design. Both digital and physical entries are now being accepted, details on each are available on the entry website, adds the organisation.

To be eligible, work must have been produced or published in the 2025 calendar year. Early bird deadline for entry is Friday, 14 November, with entry fees increasing for the regular deadline of Friday, 23 January 2026, and final deadline on Friday, 27 February 2026, adds the organisation.

TDC72 Jury Presidents and the full jury will be announced shortly. Across the three juries, the competition will have native experts for writing systems spanning Arabic, Cyrillic, Indic, CJK, Thai and African scripts, reflecting TDC's commitment to have a greater number of the most appropriate experts judging work for which they have a deep knowledge, says the organisation.

The TDC competition regularly receives entries from more than 60 countries. To make TDC72 as accessible as possible on a global level, the organisation is offering significant regional discounts on entry fees, adds the organisation.

Winners will receive TDC Type-High Gold, Silver, Bronze awards or Merit certificates, and a digital seal certifying their work is among the world's best of the year. Winning work will also be featured in the highly respected TDC Annual, The World's Best Typography®, and showcased in a number of exhibitions that travel to museums, schools and design organisations around the world, says the organisation.

Best of Show, as well as Best of Discipline winners for Best of Communication Design, Type Design and Lettering, will also be awarded in May 2026 during Creative Week in New York, adds the organisation.

TDC72 winners are also part of The One Club's prestigious Global Creative Rankings, earning points alongside winners in The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, Art Director Club of Europe (ADCE), and ONE Asia Creative Awards, to chart the world's leading independent creatives, design firms, ad agencies, production companies and brands, says the organisation.

TDC72 Branding by Morcos Key

Branding for this year's competition, created by Morcos Key, New York, celebrates the diversity of type and the many geographies, voices and approaches it offers, says the organisation.

The visual system is built on a 13×13 grid, where each cell can expand, contract, or shift in transition. This shared structure generates letterforms across a spectrum of styles — from high-contrast serif to reverse-contrast sans to blackletter — mirroring the diversity of voices that TDC champions, adds the organisation.

The grid itself becomes alive, embodying the tension between restraint and expression that defines the craft of type design.

The branding features custom animated type, as well as Logic Monoscript typeface by MCKL Type Foundry, and ITC Franklin — the classic TDC branding typeface — by Morris Fuller Benton, Monotype, both provided via the Adobe Type platform, says the organisation.

Reflecting on the competition, last year's TDC71 Type Design Jury President Sahar Afshar, Type Designer and Founding Partner at Dogray Type Foundry in London, called it a testament to the vitality of typography — not as a static discipline, but as a living conversation between form, function and cultural moment, adds the organisation.

"Every year, a diverse range of entries confronts us with bold experiments, meticulous refinements and everything in between, each piece speaking in its own distinct voice," says Afshar. "Typography, Lettering, and Type Design are not just about shapes on a page, but about intention, context and the unseen labor behind every curve. The esteemed panel of judges perform a meticulous evaluation of each entry and recognition is never given lightly. The submitted work is debated, admired and sometimes fiercely defended, because it matters. To emerge on top from such a rigorous process is the highest compliment we can offer."

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*Image courtesy of the contributor