drupa news: Type Directors Club roll out red carpet

You might not spot any movie stars or celebrities, but the 54th show staged by Type Directors Club of New York (TDC) which premieres at this year's drupa is being compared to the Oscars.

From its beginnings as a members-only competition for Madison Avenue's type devotees, the award has grown into the world's highest typography and graphic design honour. Today, an award from the Type Directors Club of New York is considered the equivalent of an Oscar for typography - known to jumpstart careers and earn winners points in creative rankings.

The system of evaluating entries is as simple as it is pragmatic and an impressive case study in grassroots democracy. Each of the seven jury members decides for him or herself whether an entry deserves recognition. If it does, a chip is placed in the cup assigned to the work. If more than four chips are collected, an award is conferred. Some 2,100 entries from 33 countries came under the judges' scrutiny in the latest competition. More than half of the submissions came from the USA, followed by Germany (378), Japan (82), Canada (81), the UK (53) and Spain (40). For the first time in TDC history, works from India also contested the awards.

"The standard of work is extremely high this year," said Bertram Schmidt-Friderichs, TDC chairman for Germany. "And the spectrum ranges from in-your-face advertising to political or social campaigns. There were also designs for the layout of glossy magazines such as the New York Times magazine in addition to annual reports and calendars."

Among the winners are luminaries of the creative scene, globally active agencies as well as small companies and as yet unknown designers. One of the big names, Stefan Sagmeister, whose client list includes the Guggenheim Museum and Time Warner, picked up an award for his book Things I have learned in my life so far. Others with cause for celebration were Pentagram Design of the USA, Strichpunkt, Ogilvy & Mather. A complete overview of the winners is available online at: www.tdc.org.

All of the 225 award-winning works will be on display for drupa visitors to admire in Hall 4 at Stand F 51.