The Type Directors Club 55th International Traveling Show of typography competition winners is on display for the first time in the University Art Gallery now through Feb. 20.
The exhibit features 215 pieces designed by top typographers from 21 countries including the United States, Australia, Spain and Taiwan. Bond Walker, graphic communication senior, said the show is about the different use of type in a wide variety of projects and is an art form.
“It’s not the first thought that comes to mind when you think of typography, but it really is art,” Walker said. She said one of her favorites was a hippopotamus made out of the letter “H.” Walker said it takes a lot of time and dedication to create typeface and the lettering itself is a work of art.
Typography is everywhere from magazines and book covers, to business cards and advertisements. It’s the words that jump out from the television screen and the credits rolling at the end of a show. Art studio senior Lana Dow said the show is geared toward graphic design and communication majors.
“I get nerdy about type,” Walker said. For her, it’s a way to see how things are put together. She said typography is more than just publication. Jeff Van Kleeck, gallery coordinator, said the show isn’t just for what he called “type-geeks” and is a way for all students to see typeface beyond what’s loaded on their computers. The Directors Club makes that happen with their annual show of top designs.
The club was founded in New York in 1946 by some of the leading designers of the time. They hold two annual competitions with open-enrollment. One focuses on the use of typeface and the other in the creation of it.
This year, there were 1,733 entries in the competition from 33 countries in the design category and 163 typefaces from 26 countries. Of the nearly 2,000 entries, only 215 are chosen as winners. One is chosen to run on the cover of the club’s annual journal “Typography 30,” and three student entries are chosen to receive prize money. The combined winning entries make up the international tour.
Carol Wahler, executive director of the Directors Club, said there are seven traveling shows. Identical exhibits have been in Moscow, Spain and England, and the one at the art gallery just came from Mexico where it took two months to get out of the country, Wahler said.
Next year they plan to include Vietnam and Indonesia on the tour. Dow and Walker encouraged all students to visit the exhibit. Walker said it’s a show that needs to be seen at least twice.
“There’s a lot of interesting things to see and it’s free entertainment,” Walker said.
The next exhibit at the gallery will be a show of work from Cal Poly art students including photography, graphic design and sculpture pieces.
The university gallery is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Dexter Building, Room 171.