MAM
Type Directors Club opens call for entries for global TDC70 Competition
Mumbai: The Type Directors Club, the world’s leading typography organization, has opened the call for entries for its prestigious TDC70 competition.
As changed last year, the program is a single competition under the TDC70 umbrella consisting of three disciplines: Communication Design, Lettering, and Type Design.
The Communication Design discipline encompasses any design or creation that uses type, lettering, or written language as a significant element, and is an expansion of what was previously the TDC Communications Design discipline. Typography includes graphic design, UI/UX, environmental design or architecture with typographic elements, film, animation and motion design, social media campaigns, new media, and anything else where typography is used.
The dedicated discipline for Lettering is for work where the letters were created or modified. This includes contemporary lettering, traditional calligraphy, sign painting, wordmarks and custom logos, digital or analogue distortions, eccentric display typefaces, and more. This new discipline, now in its second year, has its own dedicated jury, made up of some of the world’s leading lettering practitioners and experts.
Type Design is for entries showcasing the design of typefaces. It also allows for entries of any thematically applicable code or software, such as software for creating or generating type.
To be eligible, work must have been produced or published in the 2023 calendar year. Early bird deadline for entry is 27 October, with entry fees increasing for the regular deadline of 8 December, and final deadline on 26 January 2024.
Juries will be announced shortly. Across the three juries, TDC70 will have native experts for writing systems spanning Arabic, Cyrillic, Indic, CJK, Thai, and select African scripts. While the competition always accepted international and multilingual entries, the addition of more judges in recent years was a reflection of TDC’s commitment to have a greater number of the most appropriate experts judging designs for which they have a deep knowledge.
The TDC competition regularly receives entries from more than 60 countries. To make TDC70 as accessible as possible on a global level, the organization is offering significant regional discounts on entry fees.
Approximately half of the world’s countries qualify for a 60 percent discount, and another quarter of them receive a 20 per cent discount, with only the most economically prosperous countries and regions paying the full entry fee. Additional discounts are also available to TDC members and students.
Winners of TDC70 receive a Certificate of Typographic Excellence and 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 eight exhibitions that travel to museums, schools and design organizations around the world.
TDC70 winners are also part of The One Club’s prestigious Global Creative Rankings, earning points alongside winners in The One Show and ADC Annual Awards to chart the world’s leading independent creatives, ad agencies, production companies, and brands.
This year’s TDC70 competition committee is chaired by Eric Q. Liu, typographer, editor, podcaster and writer with The Type in Tokyo, with support from TDC Advisory Board members John Kudos, managing partner, KUDOS Design Collaboratory and KASA Collective, New York, and Trisha Tan, design director, Brooklyn, NY.
Branding for this year’s competition was created by Wolff Olins, with fonts generously donated by Neubau, based in Berlin.
“Each year, the TDC has epitomized the essence of the current era,” said Wolff Olins global principal Thomas Wilder. “This year, we wanted to challenge the all-too-common approach of looking to the future or to the past, and instead bring urgency and importance to the present moment. We set out with the idea ‘Made For Now’ to design with the power of ephemerality in an ever-changing world.”
“TDC’s annual competition strives to always remain relevant to the greater typographic community in all regions and cultures, and we’re excited to accept and celebrate entries in more disciplines and styles than ever before,” said Type Directors Club executive director Carol Wahler.
Brands
Raj Cooling Systems launches Agreyas appliances brand
Emraan Hashmi named brand ambassador for consumer appliance push.
MUMBAI: A company known for cooling solutions is now heating up its ambitions in the home appliances market. Raj Cooling Systems Pvt. Ltd. has launched a new consumer appliances brand, Agreyas, marking its entry into India’s rapidly expanding home appliances sector valued at more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The move represents a strategic diversification for the company, which has traditionally focused on cooling solutions for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Through Agreyas, the firm plans to tap into growing consumer demand for energy efficient and technology driven household appliances.
To build brand visibility, Agreyas has appointed Emraan Hashmi as its brand ambassador. The campaign has been developed under the banner of Zoommantra Productions, with actor and filmmaker Rohit Roy contributing to the creative direction.
The brand’s initial portfolio will include mid premium air conditioners, washing machines, geysers and other white goods designed to cater to modern Indian households seeking efficient and reliable appliances.
Raj Cooling Systems, founder and chairman Kalpesh Ramoliya said the launch aligns with the company’s broader expansion plans.
“The launch of Agreyas is in line with our vision to build a strong presence in India’s consumer electronics and home appliances market. The brand has been developed as a standalone identity to meet the evolving needs of Indian consumers,” he said.
Hashmi said the collaboration comes at a time when Indian buyers are increasingly looking for innovative and functional home solutions.
“I’m looking forward to working with Agreyas at a time when consumers are seeking more innovative and efficient home products. The brand reflects changing consumer behaviour around functionality, innovation and ease of use,” he said.
Raj Cooling Systems plans to invest around 10 million dollars in developing the brand, with an additional 5 million dollars earmarked over the next three to five years for product development and distribution expansion.
Agreyas will follow a multi channel distribution approach, selling through online platforms, retail outlets and dealer networks aimed at both urban and semi urban markets across India.
With the launch, the company is positioning Agreyas as a standalone consumer facing brand while continuing to leverage its existing manufacturing, engineering and research capabilities built through its core cooling solutions business.
