
Tokyo TDC Annual Awards 2024
Entry Guidelines for Overseas Residents
The Tokyo Type Directors Club (Tokyo TDC) was founded in 1987 to pursue the possibilities of visual expression of letters and words, and the Tokyo TDC Annual Awards has been held annually since then.
We are accepting the applications of the “Tokyo TDC Annual Awards 2024” now.
We would be honored if you would apply.

ADeadline for submission
- Deadline for Early submission (discounted entry fee): August 1ー September 5, 2023
- Deadline for Final submission: September 6 ー October 5, 2023
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* Early submission applies to entries submitted by Sept. 5, 23:59 JPN time, in which all submission of the applicant is completely submitted.
* Discounted submission fee will be non-applicable to ALL entries if an additional entry is submitted after submitting Early submission by same applicant.
* No replacing or additionally sending images after submission is completed.
BEligibility
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① No special qualifications are needed to submit an entry. TDC requires that Applicants must be the Type Director of entry works.
② Entries must be produced between September 2022 and the deadline. (For entries submitted outside production period, reasons must be entered in the Entry form. )
③ If a part of the series of works was produced outside the entry period, state that as such.
EX. A series of books for which one book was published every year and was completed this year./ Production began in 2020 and was completed this year./ The artwork was produced in 2020 and presented this year./ The artwork was produced in 2020 and presented in 2022 after making some changes.
④ All entries by students must be done individually. (Mentors name will not be written together.)
⑤ Unauthorized fictional project using existing companies, brands names, or artist names may not be submitted.
CCategory
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1. Small Graphics
Calendar, Record Jacket, Flier, Ticket, Invitation, DM, Catalog, Pamphlet etc.
2. Editorial / Book Design
3. Type Design
4. Mark & Logotype / CorporateStationery / Branding
Mark & Logo / Logotype and items using it, Motion Logo, CI, VI, Corporate stationery, Brand design including logo(Advertisement in Branding must be submit to category 6)
5. Signage & Display / Packaging
* Make an entry of digital signage in the Signage & Display category if wish to show work as a space.
6. Advertising
Newspaper & Magazine Advertisement / Poster A = Advertising Poster / Advertising Campaign / Advertising Motion Poster, etc.
7. Poster B
For poster entries not included in category 6. / Motion Poster
Independently produced posters and experimental posters should be submitted to Poster B category, not to “Experimental Work”.
8. Experimental Work
For entries not included in the other categories.
9. Web site / Application
10. Video (Music video, live video, movie title, film advertising, digital signage, and spatial/background video, etc.)
* Make an entry of digital signage in the Video category if wish to show your work as a video.
11. RGB Experimental
For entries not included in the category 9,10. Experimental works using AI is included.
DSchedule
- Selection / Announcement
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① Late October, 2023 = Selected work for Category 1,2,4,5,6,7,8 will be chosen.
→If chosen as Selected work, applicant are requested to send in their actual work to TDC office.
→Early December, 2023, Prize nominee work and Prize winning work will be chosen from viewing and evaluating the actual works of Selected work.
* In principle, the actual works will not be returned. If you wish, they will be returned at your expense.② Early December, 2023= Selected work, Prize nominee work, Prize winning work are selected for Category 3,9,10,11.
③ Late December, 2023= Prize winners are notified.
④ January, 2024 = Prize winning work and Prize nominee work will be published on TDC Website.
⑤ Late January, 2024= Selected winners will be requested to send in images and caption manuscript. Non-selected applicant will be notified.
* Inquiries concerning the results by individual will not be accepted. - Exhibition
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Prize winning and prize nominee works will be exhibited at TDC exhibition. Excellent works which earn high marks is also exhibited. Exhibition will be held in April 2024 at the Ginza Graphic Gallery in Tokyo. Award ceremony and Design Forum TDC DAY will be held.
* Showings at other exhibitions not specified here are considered to be approved by applicant without permission. - Annual Book
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The international edition of Tokyo TDC, Vol.35 – The Best in International Typography & Design will be published at the end of 2024.
* No complimentary copies of the annual book will be provided.
EEvaluation and Others
- Prize and Prize Money
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Grand Prize: 1 entry / TDC Prize: 6 entries / Type Design Prize: 1 entry / Book Design Prize: 1 entry / RGB Prize: 1 entry (All categories are eligible for this prize) / Special Prize (not subject to prize money): 0 – 2 entries
Applicant of prize winning works will receive their prize money and diploma at the award ceremony at TDC exhibition in April 2024.
Grand Prize: 200000 JPY / Other Prizes: 100000 JPY
- Prize Nominee Work and Excellent Work
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Prize Nominee Work means an entry shortlisted for a prize but not selected as a prize winning work.
Excellent Work means an entry, other than the above, which is selected to appear in the annual book.
* A certification of the result (digital file) will be sent to applicant.
FJury
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Katsumi Asaba / Kazunari Hattori / Noriaki Hayashi / Naomi Hirabayashi / Tsuguya Inoue / Kaoru Kasai / Atsuki Kikuchi / Issay Kitagawa / Dohyung Kim / Akira Kobayashi / Gento Matsumoto / Shuzhi Mei / Norio Nakamura / Yugo Nakamura / Daijiro Ohara / Tomohiro Okazaki / Yukimasa Okumura / Nejc Prah / Taku Satoh / Katsuhiko Shibuya / Shin Sobue / Mina Tabei / Fumio Tachibana / Yui Takada / Ryoji Tanaka / Yoshihisa Tanaka / Yuri Uenishi / Asuka Wakida / John Warwicker / Yoshie Watanabe
- Jurors for category 3, Type Design
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Shigenobu Fujita / Cyrus Highsmith / Akira Kobayashi / Ryoko Nishizuka / Shin Sobue / Osamu Torinoumi / John Warwicker / Wang Wen / Katsumi Asaba / Kazunari Hattori / Tsuguya Inoue / Kaoru Kasai / Katsuhiko Shibuya / Yoshihisa Tanaka
- Jurors for categories 9, 10, and 11, On Screen
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Yae Akaiwa, exonemo / Gabin Ito / Atsuki Kikuchi / Jung-Yeon Ma / Gento Matsumoto / Yugo Nakamura / Ryoji Tanaka / Yoko Yuki / Tomoya Watanabe
* Applicant’s name and country/region will not be visible at the jury.
* Jurors cannot vote for their own entries and entries by students instructed directly by jurors.
GSteps for Entry
- Step.1 Registering the entry
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▶︎ TOKYO TDC 2024 Entry Registration (Google Forms)
Register the applicant’s name and personal information, with an outline of the submission (category, title, intended use & design intention, created date of the work, data to be submitted, Categories 6, 7 and 8 are based on the main item sizes of the works.).
* Please do not describe the applicant’s name or company in the intended use & design intention.
* If you submit multiple entries, number them as 1, 2, 3.., as the “Entry No”.
* For those unable to use Google Forms, please download this PDF and email an entry registration.E-mail : contact@tokyotypedirectorsclub.org
Subject : TOKYO TDC 2024 Entry Registration - Step.2 Registration Entry ID
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When entry registration is completed, TDC will issue one Entry ID per one applicant (within a day). Entry ID will be sent via email.
* If there are any corrections to the entry registration, send the corrected portion by e-mail to Tokyo TDC.
- Step.3 Upload the digital image of the work
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3-1. Prepare the data. Please use as reference.
Name the folder in which you put your data, as follows:
“Category No_your Entry ID_Entry No”
Ex. 04_F321_013-2. Put all the submitted works in one folder and ZIP them.
3-3. Log into your Google account.
* Please sign up for a Google account if not yet.
* If you cannot sign up, upload data to an available data transmission service or your server and inform the secretariat via email of the URL from which the data can be downloaded.
E-mail : contact@tokyotypedirectorsclub.org
Subject : TOKYO TDC 2024 Works Data “(your) Entry ID”3-4. After logging in, enter your Entry ID.
▶︎TOKYO TDC 2024 Works Data
The Entry ID and email address used for registration are required.
Click “Add a file,” put all the entries in one folder, ZIP them, and then upload them.
* Replacing or deleting data for submitted image is unavailable. Please take care for careful submission.
* The term “file” here refers to singular JPEG, PDF, etc., (i.e., a “file” as the smallest unit of stored collected data); meaning, the term does not refer to a folder containing multiple files or to a compressed ZIP folder.
HEntry format / Q & A
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* Explanatory material video refers to a video within one minute in length that can be additionally attached in order to show the print texture or to promote the understanding of a book, etc. (around 50 MB limit). Submission is optional, and no additional entry fee is required. (An additional fee will be required if the video is more than one minute in length.)
- Q & A
- Q. Supposedly my work was selected as an Excellent Work, but what if I am unable to send the actual work to Tokyo for any reasons. What will happen then?
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A. We will not withdraw your work. Unfortunately, we will place the printed data instead of the actual product at the final judging session where the actual product will be lined up.
- Q. Regarding JPEG files, are there any limitations on content amount?
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A. We do not have strict rule. But it would be hard to appreciate the work if a JPEG file was excessive in content. please see the example image as mentioned above as a guideline for reference. Because we select works via a monitor, it is desirable if the digital data (excluding posters) is in the horizontal position. Because we select works via a monitor, it is desirable if the digital data (excluding posters) is in the horizontal position.
- Q. Can one work be submitted by multiple persons?
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A. Yes, it can. Please enter the entrant names as the applicant’s name Type Director. However, enter a group name, etc., if four or more persons jointly submit one work.
- Q. What should I do if I want to submit 10 or more JPEG images for one entry?
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A. If you wish to submit more than 10 images, please add 30 USD to your entry fee per 5 images.(Example of Final Submission, submit 14 images=entry fee 130 USD / submit 20 images = 160 USD.)
- Q. It’s not possible to limit my explanatory material videos to within 1 minute. What should I do?
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A. Please add: within three minutes= 30 USD /longer than three minutes= 50 USD.
- Q. I want to make more than 10 entries, but the number of columns in the entry registration format (in Google Forms) is insufficient.
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A. Please make multiple entry registrations and indicate “2nd registration” or “3rd registration” in the remarks space.
- Q. Can I submit a work that I have submitted to another competition?
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A. Yes.
INotes
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① The applicant’s name must be the type director’s name of the work. We will also give our award to the person.You can not add or change the name after hearing the competition result. Please make sure that the correct name is used when submitting your work.
② The Tokyo TDC Annual Awards is designed to pursue the possibility of visual expression of letters/characters. It does not exist to attack any individual or certain group. We will not accept the following types of entries:
• Entries that defame a specific individual(s), group(s), etc.
• Entries designed for political or religious activities.
• Entries that infringe or may possibly infringe on a third party’s intellectual property rights (copyrights, trademark rights, portrait rights, etc.) and entries that the Tokyo TDC judges as inappropriate (entries that are offensive to public order and morals, for example); the Tokyo TDC may cancel an award, nomination and selection for the annual book if it finds an entry applicable to these stipulations.
* If the suspicion of the infringement of a third party’s rights arises after the entry is included in the annual book, the applicant shall be responsible for handling the problem with the third party, and the Tokyo TDC will not take any responsibility.
* Fictitious designs using the name of an existing company or exhibition graphics using the name of an actual artist without permission will not be accepted.③ Applicant grant TDC the right to reproduce the images of entries for promotional purposes, advance to having their works exhibited at other exhibitions besides those mentioned in the submission requirements and advance to having their works published in the TDC Annual Book digital archives.
④ The layout of the annual book and Exhibition is done in accordance with the editing format and policy of the TDC annual book and Exhibition. We will not accommodate special requests from applicant. Due to technical and organizational constraints, TDC reserves the right to determine the trimming and cutout of the images requested by the annual book’s designer without permission from the applicants. TDC will photograph the entry works if need be.
JEntry fee and Paying entry fees
- Entry fee
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* The entry fee should be calculated for each entry.
- Early submission (August 1ー September 5, 2023)
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① Category 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
JPEG 1-4 images: 35 USD (student 20 USD)/ 5-10 images: 65 USD (student 40 USD)② Category 3 PDF 2-6 sheets: 70 USD (student 50 USD)
③ Category 4 Motion Logo (additional fee): 20 USD
④ Category 3 Variable fonts (additional fee): 20 USD
⑤ Category 9 Web site/Application: 35 USD (student 20 USD)
⑥ Category 10, 11 MOV/MP4: Within 3 minutes: 35 USD (student 20 USD)/ 3 minutes or more: 70 USD (student 50 USD)
•Adding additional JPEG and PDF images for Series Entry= 30 USD for every 5 images
•If the Explanatory material video is longer than 1 minute : under 3 minutes= additional 30 USD/over 3 minutes= additional 50 USD - Final submission (September 6 – October 5, 2023)
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① Category 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
JPEG 1-4 images: 55 USD (student 30 USD)/ 5-10 images: 100 USD (student 70 USD)② Category 3 PDF 2-6 sheets: 100 USD (student 70 USD)
③ Category 4 Motion Logo (additional fee): 20 USD
④ Category 3 Variable fonts (additional fee): 20 USD
⑤ Category 9 Web site/Application: 50 USD (student 30 USD)
⑥ Category 10, 11 MOV/MP4: Within 3 minutes: 50 USD (student 30 USD)/ 3 minutes or more: 100 USD (student 70 USD)
•Adding additional JPEG and PDF images for Series Entry= 30 USD for every 5 images
•If the Explanatory material video is longer than 1 minute : under 3 minutes= additional 30 USD/over 3 minutes= additional 50 USD• Entry fee calculation examples are provided here:
- Paying entry fees
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Calculate the entry fee and pay under the applicant’s name. Enter the entry ID in “Add a note”.
Entries fees will be collected via PayPal.
Please access the URL below.
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/tokyotdc① Enter the sum of entry fees.
② Login to your PayPal account.
③ Make payment via credit card.
* For Singapore residents : Please contact us by e-mail as the remittance PayPal account is different.
• Deadline for the payment of entry fees:
Early submission= by September 6, 2023.
Final submission= by October 6, 2023.• Receipt request:
You may request a receipt by sending us a mail with the applicant’s name, the receipt addressee, and the amount paid. We will send a return mail with the receipt attached.
Contact address: contact@tokyotypedirectorsclub.org
Subject : TOKYO TDC 2024 receipt request
KContact information
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Please contact:
contact@tokyotypedirectorsclub.org