This year’s show includes a major overhaul and clarification of the categories, and updated ability to choose specific writing systems on entry.
NEW YORK, October 21, 2026 — The Type Directors Club launches its prestigious global TDC73 competition, supported this year by the energetic “Be Bold, Be Seen (All Characters Welcome)” branding campaign by Grafis Nusantara, based in Jakarta.
For more than seven decades, the TDC Competition has celebrated the vitality of typography, not as a static discipline but as a living conversation between form, function, and the cultural moment. A diverse range of entries vie each year for the global spotlight with bold experiments, rigorous refinements, and everything in between, each piece speaking in its own distinct voice.
TDC73 consists of three disciplines: Communication Design, Lettering, and Type Design. This year, the club has implemented a significant overhaul and clarification of the categories within the disciplines. These include simpler category names and examples of different kinds of work that fit each category.
In addition, TDC73 entrants can now choose the specific writing systems used in their entries, allowing them to more accurately represent the languages and writing systems they use.
TDC73 branding by Grafis Nusantara
Branding for this year’s competition was created by Grafis Nusantara, a platform dedicated to archiving vintage Indonesian labels and stickers, presenting the archipelago’s lavish visuals and their significance as knowledge and reference materials.
Under the theme “Be Bold, Be Seen (All Characters Welcome)”, the branding employs multiple typefaces rooted in the traditions of storefront signage, product packaging, commercial lettering, and vernacular type, creating bold, active, energetic communications.
The work is also inspired by content from Grafis Nusantara’s TDC72 Type-High Bronze award-winning book design, which features Indonesian stickers from their archive.
This expressive mix of handcrafted elements and a vibrant palette of high-contrast colors gives each layout its own character, while keeping the overall system dynamic and cohesive.
Motion work builds on simple, playful looping animations, where individual graphic elements move, shift, bounce, rotate, or reveal themselves while the overall composition remains intact. Signage, typography, stickers, packaging, and illustrated objects come to life without losing their bold graphic quality.
“We’ve always been interested in how design exists outside the studio, often in the most ordinary places,” said Claudia Novreica, Writer and Researcher at Grafis Nusantara. “With TDC73, we wanted to bring that spirit into the campaign and celebrate the diversity of type design and visual communication within the community. We see typography everywhere, and we wanted the visuals to reflect the many different voices and ways of expressing ideas that make this community what it is.
She added that being “bold” also means having the courage to put your ideas out there and let them take up space. “We approached the branding as an invitation for designers to own their perspectives, and make work that deserves to be seen.”
“The Grafis Nusantara team brought incredible energy and good humor to letterforms that can sometimes seem a bit self-serious,” said Joe Newton, TDC Executive Director.
TDC 73 competition details
The TDC competition regularly receives entries from more than 60 countries. To make TDC73 as accessible as possible on a global level, the organization offers significant regional discounts on entry fees.
Early bird deadline for digital and physical entries is Friday, January 22, 2026, with entry fees increasing for the regular deadline of Friday, February 12, 2027, and final deadline on Friday, March 5, 2027.
TDC73 Jury Presidents will be announced in November, with the full jury unveiled in January 2027. 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 appropriate experts judging work for which they have a deep knowledge.
This marks the second year TDC will present physical Type-High Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards, as well as Certificates of Merit. The handsomely designed object was designed and named by Graham Clifford, longtime TDC collaborator, life member, and organization Chairman Emeritus.
TDC73 Best of Discipline, Type-High, and Merit winners will also be announced in May, 2027.
Winners will receive TDC Type-High Gold, Silver, Bronze awards or Certificates of Merit, and a digital seal certifying their work is among the world’s best typography of the year. Winning work will also be showcased in eight TDC exhibitions that travel to museums, schools, and design organizations around the world, as well as TDC and One Club social media and web channels.
Winners are also part of The One Club for Creativity’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.
Please visit the TDC73 entry site for more information and to enter this year’s competition.
Credits:
Client: Type Directors Club for TDC73 competition
Agency: Grafis Nusantara, Jakarta
Founder, Creative Director: Rakhmat Jaka
Co-Founder, Copywriter, Researcher: Claudia Novreica
Co-Founder, Business Director: Sulaiman Said
Co-Founder, Project Manager: Hendri Siman
Marketing Manager: Fitraisyah June Prestica Hadi Estri
The One Club for Creativity – home of The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE) awards, ONE Asia Creative Awards, Type Directors Club TDC competition and scholarships, ADC Young Guns, Young Ones Student Awards, global AI Creative Challenge, Next Creative Leaders, WAATBP Career Essentials career fair, Portfolio Night, Creative Week, and more – is the world’s foremost non-profit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate the success of the global creative community. Revenue generated from entries to its global awards shows goes back into the industry to fund programs that support industry access, creative education, professional development, and enhancement of creative careers around the world.
