The Type Directors Club has announced 161 finalists from 40 countries for its TDC72 competition. According to the organization, this marks the first time in its nearly 80-year history that it has announced competition finalists.
All finalists will receive newly created physical awards — Gold, Silver, or Bronze Type-High awards, or Merits — to be announced on July 16, 2026, at a TDC72 awards ceremony and exhibition at The Lighthouse in Brooklyn.
The annual global competition recognizes creative excellence across three disciplines: Communication Design, Lettering, and Type Design.
Communication Design
The Communication Design discipline has 99 finalists. SMLXL New York leads with five, including two in collaboration with Mallandrich Barcelona for “Spatial Festival 2025” for Spatial Festival, one with Principi Barcelona also for “Spatial Festival 2025,” one with Principi Barcelona for Orika, and one for Hyundai Cards.
Studio Dumbar/DEPT Rotterdam also has five Communication Design finalists, including three in collaboration with OpenAI Creative Studio San Francisco for “OpenAI DevDay 2025” for OpenAI, one for Aithyra “Transforming Life Science,” and one for its own “DEMO 2025 — Design in Motion Festival.”
The New York Times has four finalists: two for The New York Times Magazine, “Inside the Collapse of the F.D.A.” and two for The New York Times for Kids “The Huge Issue,” covering both the issue and its cover.
Four entrants have three Communication Design finalists each: By-Enjoy Fujian, Ntsal Cairo, Pentagram New York, and Porto Rocha Brooklyn.
Lettering
The Lettering discipline has 26 finalists. Kevin Cantrell Studio Mantua leads with three: “TOTG Playing Cards Red Edition,” “Bebemos Playing Cards,” and “La Bible des Cocktails 2025-2026 Cover.”
Tarek Atrissi Design Barcelona has two Lettering finalists. One was entered in collaboration with American University of Beirut and the Rada and Mutaz Sawaf Center for Arab Comics Studies Beirut for “Book design for the Mahmoud Kahil Awards” for Center for Arab Comics Studies at AUB. The other is for “From Bauhaus to Mecca Exhibition Design” on behalf of The Design Museum Den Bosch.
Type Design
The Type Design discipline has 36 finalists. Five entrants are tied with two finalists each: Contrast Foundry San Francisco, DualType Guadalajara, TypeTogether Prague, typographies.fr Villeurbanne, and Typotheque The Hague.
Full list of finalists is here.
