Brand new start! TDC is merging with The One Club for Creativity
This could be huge! The One Club for Creativity aka the world’s foremost nonprofit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate the global creative community, announced a merger agreement with the Type Directors Club, the leading global typography organization.
With this move Type Directors Club (TDC) comes under The One Club for Creativity (TOCC) umbrella, providing resources and infrastructure to broaden and grow its programming and placing new emphasis on promoting diversity and inclusion in the global typography community. The merger was approved in a vote by Boards and membership of both organizations, and is now pending approval by the New York State Attorney General's office.
“This merger will allow the TDC to expand and increase its number of initiatives, while placing a robust emphasis on diversity and inclusion” notes TDC. This means the a change in leadership based on community input and active recruitment -TDC board will have 25% new leadership in 2020, growing to 50% in 2021- rewritten bylaws based on community input, with inclusivity and anti-racism at their core, a commitment to diversity in scholarships including those that celebrate and support BIPOC and women type designers and enhanced programming to better represent the global typographic community.
Established in 1946 in New York, TDC celebrates and amplifies the power of typography and serves as a global community united by the shared belief that type drives culture and culture drives type. The organization halted operations this past July due to organizational and financial challenges, both of which are being addressed with a transformation of operational focus and management.
“TDC is an important creative organization with a rich heritage, and brings a great new dimension to the TOCC and the global creative community at large,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club. “This marks a new chapter for the TDC. It’s a chance to redefine the organization and what it means to be a member by providing access to our inclusion and diversity, gender equality, professional development and education programming.”
As part of The One Club for Creativity, TDC will continue as an autonomous, committee-based organization and maintain its highly-regarded Communication Design awards competition; Typeface Design competition recognizing work from independent designers, agencies and foundries; Ascenders competition honoring type-based portfolios of designers age 35 and under; and The TDC Medal recognizing individuals and institutions who have made outstanding contributions to the field of typography, and whose work and talent have demonstrated the value of typography in communication, community and culture. Also, TDC membership will remain intact, with added benefits in conjunction with The One Club offerings to be announced shortly.
“The TDC simultaneously faced organizational and financial issues, and this merger offers the infrastructure for a fresh start so our Advisory Board can instead focus on what it's good at: promoting typographic excellence with an anti-racist commitment to broaden what our industry lauds,” said Elizabeth Carey Smith, TDC past president. “We'll have the opportunity to bring in new voices and reach a greater audience, with the hopes of fostering the love of type in more diverse communities.”
One initiative already in the works is a new outreach program aimed at introducing typography and design to high-school students, particularly those in underserved communities.
As noted the merger does not include the Typographic Design Center, a separate nonprofit entity that maintained TDC educational support initiatives. This allows the TDC to apply for educational grants for financial support of the physical archives and its digitization, as well as for the Typegeist academic publishing platform.
The move follows the successful 2016 merger of The One Club and the Art Directors Club (ADC), two of the most respected nonprofits in advertising and design, to form The One Club for Creativity as the world’s foremost nonprofit organization for the creative community.
Inclusion and diversity has long been one of The One Club’s four pillars for programming. The organization formed its One ID department in 2008 and established its annual Where Are All The Black People diversity conference and career fair in 2011. Other initiatives include the free ONE School portfolio program for Black creatives, Creative Boot Camps held around the world offering diverse students three days of hands-on training at an ad agency, and the free One Club Diverse Talent Ad Directory for people looking to hire and get hired.
TOCC also recently increased diversity within its leadership with the appointments of Gail Anderson, chair of BFA Design and BFA Advertising at the School of Visual Arts, New York, and Sherina Florence, creative director at Ogilvy, New York, to its Board of Directors. More than 60% of The One Club Board is made up of women and people of color.
The One Club for Creativity, producer of The One Show, ADC Annual Awards and Creative Week, is the world's foremost non-profit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate the success of the global creative community. The One Show is a top global awards show for advertising, design and digital marketing, focusing on the creativity of ideas and quality of execution.
The global ADC Annual Awards honors creative excellence in craft, design and innovation across all disciplines. Creative Week takes place in New York every May, and is the preeminent festival celebrating the intersection of advertising and the arts.
“The TDC exists to celebrate and amplify the power of typography, and serves as a global community united by the shared belief that type drives culture and culture drives type” notes TDC. “We take this mandate to heart and are excited to continue to serve and uplift the type and design community.”
More here.
Tags/ type directors club, tdc, the one show awards, the one club for creativity
.jpg)
.jpg)
