Recognizing outstanding type-oriented designers aged 35 and under
Program branding by Marta Cerdá Alimbau and Parasto Backman
The Type Directors Club, the world’s leading typography organization, today opened the call for entries for its global TDC Ascenders 2024 competition, celebrating international typographers, letterers, and type designers aged 35 and under.
Ascenders is a fast-growing portfolio-based competition dedicated to type in all its versatile forms, and the inspiring up and coming designers — individuals or duos — who are elevating the medium. Entrants submit six projects – typography, use of type, design, lettering, etc. – with short descriptions, a statement of their role in the project’s creation, and a list of individual credits where applicable.
Entries are now being accepted, with entry fees increasing after the early-bird deadline of March 13, 2024. Final deadline April 19, 2024. Entries will be judged by a diverse jury of global leaders in the field, to be announced shortly, and winners will be announced in June 2024.
In order to make Ascenders affordable around the globe, TDC offers a tiered pricing structure with significant discounts based on the country where the entrant is located: full-priced, mid-priced, low-priced, and, for eight countries, free. TDC members also qualify for discounts.
“Global Ascenders 2024 winners will be a showcase for where the future of typography is headed,” said Marta Cerdà Alimbau, a TDC Advisory Board member who runs her design studio in Barcelona, and helped develop this year’s program branding. “Our community is in a constant evolution, and Ascenders attest to it!”
Last year’s Ascenders winners, selected from the highest number of entrants in the competition’s history, included 35 talented young creatives from 14 countries and regions. Prominent past Ascenders winners include Au Chon Hin (2022), Kevin Cantrell (2018), Roxane Gataud (2022), Gemma O’Brien (2022), Juan Carlos Pagan (2018), Tré Seals (2018), and others.
This year’s Ascenders branding and award are designed by Cerdà Alimbau and fellow TDC Advisory Board member Parasto Backman, who operates Studio Parasto Backman in Stockholm.
“The design depicts the ‘ascending’ by embracing the idea of climbing the ladder towards progression, creative growth, and the future of type,” said Backman.