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Submissions are closed—results will be announced on the 17th June, during GRANSHAN Talks & Ceremony.
GRANSHAN celebrates the diversity and richness of typographic scripts that underpin global communication, empower communities and enable identity.
The GRANSHAN type competition explicitly seeks to recognise the most notable typefaces for individual scripts other than Latin, as well as multiscript families.
Type designers, type foundries and clients with custom typefaces from all parts of the world are invited to take part. All typefaces designed or digitised in or after 2020 in compliance with the requirements of the competition are eligible for submission.
The Script Groups
This competition, we are pleased to invite entries across an expansive array of ten distinct Script Groups.
Arabic
Arabic, Persian, Kurdish, Urdu
Edik Ghabuzyan Lifetime Achievement Award for Armenian Type Design
Chinese
traditional or simplified
Cyrillic
Bulgarian, Mongolian, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian, etc.
NEW
Georgian
Greek
Hebrew
Korean
South Asian Scripts
Devanagari, Bengali, Gurmukhi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Malayalam, Sinhala, etc.
NEW
South East Asian Scripts
Thai, Burmese, Laos, Khmer
The Chairpersons of the GRANSHAN competition, Veronika Burian and Toshi Omagari, are responsible for the appointment of the Script Chairs and for moderating the competition as non-voting Chairpersons.
Each Script Group is moderated by a so-called Script Chair. To ensure continuity in the evaluation over the years, the Script Chairs are designated for several years. The Script Specialists are chosen collectively by the Script Chairs together with the Chairpersons.
With great respect, we would like to thank Edik Ghabuzyan on the occasion of his retirement for his unique contribution to the Armenian type design and the establishment of GRANSHAN: in the 13th GRANSHAN Type Design Competition 2023/2024, the Armenian script group will receive the “Edik Ghabuzyan Lifetime Achievement Award for Armenian Type Design”. In this script group, the submission costs are borne by GRANSHAN itself and competing is therefore free of charge for submitters. In order to celebrate Edik Ghabuzyan and the Armenian type design in particular, submissions will only be accepted in the A1/A2 category for text and display typefaces, which focuses on Armenian type design.
Submissions are possible in three main categories – A (for non-Latin Typefaces), B (for non-Latin/Latin Typefaces) and C (for Multiscript Typefaces). Every category has its own sub-categories for Text and for Display Typefaces. In this way, entries are possible in six categories to account for the wide range of multilingual typeface projects:
Category A1: Text Typefaces This category is reserved exclusively for text typefaces in one or more of the script groups listed above, without Latin complements. Note that, in this category, display typefaces shall not be accepted.
Category A2: Display Typefaces This category is reserved exclusively for display typefaces in one or more of the Script Groups listed above, without Latin complements. Note that text typefaces are not accepted in this category.
Category B1: Text Typefaces with a Latin complement This category is designated for text typefaces with a Latin complement to be used in combination. This can be a pairing with both scripts developed at the same time, or one of the two scripts newly developed. In the case of a newly developed Latin complement, the quality of the Latin will also be evaluated along with the quality of the text typeface. In any case, the interaction between the two scripts will be rated. Typefaces from the nine script groups listed above can be submitted. Note that display typefaces are not accepted in this category.
Category B2: Display Typefaces with a Latin complement This category is designated for display typefaces with a Latin complement to be used in combination. This can be a pairing with both scripts developed at the same time, or one of the two scripts newly developed. In the case of a newly developed Latin complement, the quality of the Latin will also be evaluated along with the quality of the display typeface. In any case, the interaction between the two scripts will be rated. Typefaces from the nine Script Groups listed above can be submitted. Note that text typefaces are not accepted in this category.
Category C1: Multiscript Text Typefaces This category is reserved for text typefaces with at least two script complements beyond Latin intended to work together. An accompanying Latin version shall be accepted but is not required. Display typefaces are not accepted in this category.
Category C2: Multiscript Display Typefaces This category is reserved for display typefaces with at least two script complements beyond Latin intended to work together. An accompanying Latin version shall be accepted but is not required. Text typefaces are not accepted in this category.
Your registration in the submission tool as well as the creation of drafts are free of charge. Submissions are subject to a fee from the time the submission is completed. After that, submissions cannot be cancelled or refunded.
The fees outlined in the table are set as a minimum. Any additional higher payment on a voluntary basis would be very welcome.
Fees include VAT. For the first time,payment can now be made directly in the submission tool via Stripe (credit cards, PayPal and others).
Small and medium-sized companies
Small and medium-sized companies with less than 20 employees and/or collaborators.
A1 & A2
Non-Latin
Text or display typefaces
50.00 €
or $ 59.00
B1 & B2
Non-Latin/Latin
Text or display typefaces
75.00 €
or $ 87.00
C1 & C2
Multiscript
Text or display typefaces
100.00 €
or $ 117.00
Bigger companies
Companies with 20 or more employees and/or collaborators
A1 & A2
Non-Latin
Text or display typefaces
100.00 €
or $ 117.00
B1 & B2
Non-Latin/Latin
Text or display typefaces
125.00 €
or $ 146.00
C1 & C2
Multiscript
Text or display typefaces
150.00 €
or $ 175.00
Students, freelancers, low-income countries
Special rates for students, freelancers and residents of low-income countries.
In order to create a transparent and fair evaluation system, we have established a three-level procedure: A longlist, where all anonymised entries will be evaluated by the Script Specialists with an online scoring system plus personal comments from the experts. Entries with a minimum score will make it onto the shortlist. The Script Specialists will discuss the submissionsin an online video conference. After the discussion, each Script Specialist and the Script Chair will make their recommendation for 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize, as well as special mentions, in an online scoring system. Prize winners are determined on this basis in an online video conference of all Script Chairs together with both Chairpersons.
The GRANSHAN Competition is accepting submissions from November 27 to the now extended deadline February 29, with judging beginning in March/April 2024, and winners to be announced in May/June 2024.
There is a lot to win at GRANSHAN: First, second and third prizes in each of the Script Groups for each of the categories, special mentions and the GRANSHAN Grand Prize of 3,000 € for the best of the best.
Grand Prize The apex of typographic honour with a 3,000 € award
First Prize awards: Recognition for up to 60 outstanding works
Second Prize awards: Honours for up to 60 remarkable creations
Third Prize awards: Commendations for up to 60 impressive entries
Special Mentions: Celebrating unique attributes and exceptional development
The organisers of the GRANSHAN competition reserve the right to display submitted typefaces at the exhibitions, in the press, in social media and in any other relevant publications. Therefore, we kindly ask for a short 20-word bio and a portrait photo of the type designer(s) in a printable resolution in A6.
No font source files will be made publicly available!
Join in and submit your entries if they meet the following conditions:
All typefaces designed or digitised in or after 2020 in compliance with the requirements of the competition are eligible for submission.
Typefaces may be submitted by anyone involved in their design and production, as a client or as a marketing department (when submitting, please define your position).
All submitted typefaces shall comply with and use the Unicode encoding system.
Entries can be single typefaces or type families, revivals or new developments. Custom fonts are welcome, as well as student projects on a professional level.
You can, of course, submit multiple entries to this contest. Please use a separate form in the online application for each entry and submit separate PDFs. Also please note that each submission must be paid for separately.
Even though the GRANSHAN community has been affected by violent conflicts all over the world in the past, we have come to the conclusion that the current situation requires a clear statement. We have therefore decided that we require everyone to confirm a declaration of commitment.