New Advisory Board Reflects Type Directors Club Commitment to Diversity

he Type Directors Club, the leading global typography organization, has enhanced diversity within its leadership with the announcement of a new TDC Advisory Board.

The Advisory Board, which includes five new members, is the first elected by TDC membership since the organization became part of The One Club for Creativity last October. The merger provides TDC with resources and infrastructure to broaden and grow its programming and aligns with TOCC’s existing emphasis on promoting diversity and inclusion.

Joining as new members are:

• Cey Adams, artist, designer, Cey Adams Studios, Brooklyn
• Dr. Nadine Chahine, director, ArabicType Ltd, London
• Manija Emran, founder, creative director, Me & the Bootmaker, Los Angeles
• Zelda Harrison, principal, ZHarrison & Associates/ZELDESIGN, Los Angeles
• Saki Mafundikwa, founder, director, Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA), Harare

Returning to the TDC Advisory Board are:

• Elizabeth Carey Smith (chair), designer director, Saturday Design, New York
• Paul Carlos, principal, Pure+Applied, New York; adjunct faculty, Parsons School of Design, The New School
• Liz DeLuna, principal, main5design, New York; professor, Graphic Design, St. John's University
• Carrie Hamilton, designer, Carrie Hamilton Design, New York; instructor, The City College of New York
• John Kudos, managing partner, KUDOS Design Collaboratory, KASA Collective, New York
• Bobby C. Martin, Jr., founding partner, Champions Design, New York
• Joe Newton, designer, illustrator, educator, Anderson Newton Design, New York
• Juan Carlos Pagan, founding partner, executive creative director, Sunday Afternoon, New York
• YuJune Park, partner, cofounder, Synoptic Office, New York; assistant professor, Communication Design, Parsons School of Design, The New School
• Christopher Sergio, vice president, group creative director, Henry Holt & Co/Macmillan Publishers, New York

Christopher Sergio has also been appointed to represent TDC on The One Club Board of Directors.  Carol Wahler continues in her role as TDC executive director.

TDC will continue to be run as an autonomous, committee-based organization, with the Advisory Board responsible for all TDC programming, effective January 2021.  

A top priority of the new TDC Advisory Board is to take action on how to authentically address the industry’s stark inclusion and diversity problems through representation, membership and programming.  

“The new members bring a wealth of experience and diverse perspectives to the TDC Advisory Board, helping us create new paths forward in the creative community and maintaining our commitment to celebrating typographic excellence,” said Elizabeth Carey Smith, TDC past-president who will serve as board chair.

Established in New York in 1946, 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 runs the esteemed TDC Communication Design and TDC Typeface Design competitions, produces The World’s Best Typography® annual, coordinates traveling global exhibitions of award-winning work, offers scholarship programs and hosts conferences, classes, workshops, Type Salons and a design jobs board.

The One Club is the world’s foremost non-profit organization whose mission is to support the global creative community.  The club takes revenue generated from entries to its global awards shows -- including The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, Young Ones Student Awards, Young Guns and others -- and puts it back into the industry to fund programs under its four pillars: Education, Inclusion & Diversity, Gender Equality and Professional Development.  

These programs include the annual Where Are All The Black People diversity conference and career fair, ONE School free portfolio program for Black creatives, Creative Boot Camps for diverse college students, Right the Ratio Summits addressing gender equality, 2nd Skill to train traditional creatives on UX, UI and content strategy to upskill and future-proof them for the second creative career, Global Educators Summits, Creative Leaders Retreats, mentorship programs for more than 200 young creatives each year, bi-annual Saturday Career Workshops for high school students, and more.