TDC54
The Fifty-fourth Annual
Type Directors Club Exhibition
Call for Entries

Download the TDC54 Call for Entries

TDC54 Call Guidelines, Rules, and Forms (227KB PDF)

TDC54 Call Forms Only 64KB PDF

Deadline

Deadline for entries to TDC54 is Friday 4 January 2008.

Chairman’s Statement

The opportunity to represent the best in international typographic design has arrived. Enter the Type Directors Club Competition, TDC54, where up and coming and established designers are showcased in one of the top design annuals in the world. The TDC competition can place you among the world’s preeminent graphic and type designers.

Not only are this year’s judges internationally recognized, they also represent a diversity of practices, philosophies, and backgrounds. Selected for their passion for typography, these judges have been chosen to award the finest works of 2007.

Selected entries will become the signpost of future typographic movements as well as chronicle the evolution of Graphic Design. Not only will Typography 29 catalog the best typographic design of 2007, the achievements of these designers will be part of an international traveling exhibition.

Whether your work is daring, witty, or surprising, we invite you to participate and leave your mark on design history.

Ted S. Mauseth Jr.,
Chairman, TDC54

TDC54 Jury

Philippe Apeloig

Paris, France

Dana Arnett

VSA Partners
Chicago, Illinois

Ed Fella

Faculty/CalArts
Los Angeles, California

Julia Hastings

Phaidon Publishing
New York

Jessica Helfand

Winterhouse
Falls Village, Connecticut

Noreen Morioka

AdamsMorioka
Beverly Hills, California

Jakob Trollbäck

Trollbäck+Company
New York

Ted Mauseth

Chairman, TDC54

About the TDC Competitions

The Type Directors Club is an international organization founded in 1946 whose members include design professionals, typographic designers, and typophiles.

This year will be TDC’s fifty-fourth open Call for Entries in its international competition which recognizes excellence in the use of typography, calligraphy, handlettering and other letterforms.

All entries will be judged by a panel of distinguished designers in January 2008.

Winning works will be exhibited in six traveling shows and published in Typography 29, the hardbound, all-color competition annual designed by Philippe Apeloig.

The annual is published by Collins Design, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, and sold worldwide.

Eligibility

Entries must have been produced or published during 2007. Submissions can be by anyone associated with the entry. Work designed for the TDC or by the Chairman and judges is ineligible.

Entry Formats

Original items only are eligible for entry, with the exception of items detailed below.

No identification of designer/submitter (e.g. business cards) may be attached to front or back of print entries, other than official Entry Forms.

Slides/transparencies are unacceptable in any area or category.

Photographs If the actual piece is unavailable/ unmanageable (e.g. signage, displays, POP, large packaging, billboards) photographic prints 8 x 10 inches (20 x 25 cm) are acceptable. Photographs with more than one item are series entries.

Experimental / unpublished work is ineligible in all areas and categories, except for Student Work.

Mounting of entries

Entries in the Corporate ID category must be mounted on black illustration board (not Foamcore), not to exceed 14 x 22 inches (36 x 56 cm). Items may overlap. The maximum of six selected, representative items for series pertains to the number of mounted items, not boards.

Mounting in all other categories is optional. The maximum size of boards pertains to all areas and categories.

Types of Entries

Single entry

One individual piece. It can also be single, individual, unrelated items done for the same client (like a publisher or a theater). However, if you want to submit all of the items done for the same client, see next section, Series / Campaign Entry.

Members US$30 :: Non-members US$40

Series / campaign entry

Two, but not more than six, typographically and conceptually related pieces in one category for the same event, product or subject matter, such as posters, ads, booklets, television commercials, packaging, etc.

If more than six items are submitted, the Show Committee will select six representative pieces for judging. Unrelated items, e.g., different books by the same publisher or different productions by the same theater, must be submitted as single entries.

Members US$60 :: Non-members US $75

Entry Areas / Categories

Entries may be submitted in three areas: Print, Electronic and Student Work. Series must not be mixes of Print and Electronic Media. Print entries and printed Student Work must not be in electronic form. Indicate area and category number on Entry Form.

PRINT Area / Category

Proofs, photostats, computer prints, slides or transparencies are unacceptable (see General Entry Rules), except where noted. Entries like signage, displays, exhibits, etc. need not have been produced by printing and can be submitted as photographic prints. Print Categories are for identification purposes only. Judging will not be by separate categories. Therefore, do not submit the same item(s) in several categories or both as singles and series. Duplication will be eliminated by the Show Committee.

1. Advertisements Ads and advertising inserts
2. Annual Reports and other financial reports
3. Books
4. Book Jackets / Covers
5. Brochures and direct mail
6. Calendars
7. Catalogs
8. Corporate identity Always a series entry. Must be mounted (please see mounting instructions). Not to exceed six selected, representative items, e.g., logos/trademarks, stationery, envelopes, folders, identity manuals, photographs of signage, but not posters or packaging.
9. Editorial (magazine, newspaper, newsletter) : An entire publication or an article covering several pages is considered a single entry. Spreads or entire articles submitted as single entries must be removed from the publication.
10. Exhibits / Displays / Point-of-Purchase / Signage / Architectural and Dimensional Design Signage systems, exhibition booths, etc. are always series entries.
11. Logos / Trademarks / Symbols Include firm or institution name and, if necessary, a one-sentence description on the front bottom of the entry (not on the Entry Form). Maximum size: 11 x 17 inches (28 x 43 cm). Photostats, computer prints or printed versions are acceptable.
12. Miscellaneous including announcements, invitations, cards, menus, etc. Invitations may include response card and envelope. Additional pieces constitute a series entry.
13. Mixed series A printed series entry (no mix with electronic items) of two but not more than six typographically and conceptually related items pertaining to different print categories.
14. Packaging
15. Posters including large announcements and calls for entries.
16. T-Shirts / Apparel

ELECTRONIC MEDIA Area / Category

This includes TV commercials, music videos, video and film titles/graphics, video presentations, multimedia, internet graphics and interactive computer graphics. Entries must be submitted as 1/2 inch ntsc/vhs (not pal or secam) videotapes, cd-rom, computer discs runnable on a Mac (not PC) operating system, or as computer prints. Winners will be asked to submit individual frames or screens as photographic or computer prints for the exhibitions and the annual book. Each entry is to be submitted on a separate cassette or disc, except for series entries. Not acceptable in this category are internet addresses (there will be no internet access during judging).

STUDENT WORK Area / Category

Unpublished work produced by students in design classes may be submitted in proof form, e.g., computer prints, photostats, etc., but not slides or transparencies. Student work is acceptable as single or series entries (maximum of six items).

A one-sentence description of the assignment and the name of the school and the instructor must be included on the front bottom of the entry, not the entry form. Any mounted work must not exceed 14 x 22 inches (36 x 56 cm).

Out of the winning student entries, three will be selected for monetary awards. Their student designers will receive monetary awards in the amounts of $500, $300 and $200 respectively. Their work will be noted in the Annual as prize winners.

 

Typeface Design is not part of TDC54 and is a separate competition which is judged by a different jury. For more information and a Call for Entries call the TDC office (1-212-633-8943) or see the TDC2 2008 web pages.

Entry Forms

Each Entry Form must indicate:

• Print, Electronic Media, Student Work
• Single or Series entry (indicate number of items, not boards, for series entries)
• Category number (for PRINT only)
• Title or identification of entry
• Complete information about the submitter
  (to be repeated on the Payment Form)

Official TDC54 Call Entry and Payment Forms (36KB PDF) and the TDC54 Call Poster and Guidlines (227KB PDF) are available on this Web site. If additional forms are needed, please make same-size copies. Do not enlarge or reduce the form, and do not design your own entry form. Only information on the form is required at the time of submission.

An entry form must be attached to the back of each entry, taped lightly only at the top of the form.

Do not use gumming devices or double-faced tape.

Cut out Entry Forms (or copies thereof) along the dotted boxes.

Online Registration

NEW! Register your entries and send fees online

Entry Fees

Single entry

Members US$30 :: Non-members US$40

Series entry

Members US$60 :: Non-members US $75

A completely filled out Payment Form must be sent with each submission of entries (and not attached to each entry).

Payment made payable to TDC54/Type Directors Club must be submitted with entries in cash, check, US dollar travelers checks, or charged to American Express, Visa or MasterCard. Checks or money orders from all countries outside the U.S. must be drawn on a U.S. bank, payable in U.S. dollars. Payment in foreign currency, check, Eurocheck, or postal money order—even if drawn in U.S. dollars—on banks outside of the U.S.A. is unacceptable.

Publication & Hanging Fees

Winners only will be charged a US$80 ($50 for TDC members) hanging fee for each single entry and US$130 ($100 for TDC members) for each series entry in order to be included in the annual book and exhibitions. Publication & hanging fees are reduced for TDC members. Hanging fees help defray publication and exhibition expenses for this organization.

TDC Membership (Recommended)

Members receive:

• Discounted entry and hanging fees
• The TDC Typography annual
• A Subscription to the TDC newsletter, Letterspace
• Special discounts at TDC events

Membership Categories:

• Regular/New York area (within 60 miles): $150
• Regular/beyond New York area (in USA): $125
• Regular/outside USA: $140
• Student: $50
• Sustaining Corporation (includes three persons): $400
• Associate Members (non-professionals, but with an interest in typography) : $125

Awards

Winners only will be notified the week of January 21, 2007. Entries selected by the jury will receive Certificates of Typographic Excellence. They will be exhibited in the 54th TDC Exhibition, and appear in Typography 29. The opening of TDC54 will be held in New York City, and will be on display during the summer of 2008.

Winners will be asked to supply transparencies (4 x 5 in. or 10 x 12 cm) or slides of the winning entries for use in Typography 29.

Exhibitions

Winners will also be asked to supply five additional copies of winning entries for use in exhibitions outside New York. These shows travel throughout North America, Europe and Eastern Asia. Credits of individuals and firms that have contributed to each entry will be included in the exhibitions and in Typography 29.

Deadline

All entries, together with fees, and one Payment Form, must be delivered to TDC by:

Extended Deadline :: Friday 11 January 2008

to:
TDC54 / Type Directors Club
127 West 25th Street, 8th floor
New York, NY 10001
USA

Shipping

If more than one package is shipped, this must be indicated on the outside of each package, e.g., "1 of 2." Packages must be delivered prepaid.

Non-U.S. contestants should mark each package "Printed matter for contest entry. No commercial value."

No provision will be made by TDC for U.S. Customs or airport pickup.

Any customs fees will be charged back to the entrant.

No Entries Will Be Returned!

Contact

For further information, please contact the TDC offices:

TDC54 / Type Directors Club
127 West 25th Street, 8th floor
New York, NY 10001
USA

T : 1-212-633-8943
F : 1-212-633-8944
E : director@tdc.org
W : http://www.tdc.org