Egyptian and Nigerian projects earn merit in global typography contest
Excellence in typography
Announced at a ceremony and exhibition at The Lighthouse in Brooklyn, the annual competition honours excellence in typography, lettering and communication design from around the world. This year marked the debut of the physical Type-High Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, alongside the long-standing TDC Certificates of Merit.
Among the African winners was Nigeria's Udi Foundry, which received a Certificate of Merit in the Text + Display Typefaces category for Oja Display. Inspired by the Oja, a traditional flute from Eastern Nigeria, the expressive typeface transforms the instrument's finger-hole patterns and tapered form into sculptural letterforms, demonstrating how African material culture can inform contemporary type design.
Egyptian studio Ntsal emerged as one of the continent's standout performers, earning three Certificates of Merit across two categories. Bel Monasba Greeting Cards, created with Rizo Masr, was recognised in Communication Design – Print for its witty, typography-led postcard collection celebrating Egyptian culture, humour and everyday language.
Ntsal also received two awards alongside the Cairo Art Book Fair for the CABF Fourth Edition Poster and CABF Fourth Edition Branding. Both projects were recognised for their tactile, participatory approach, inviting visitors to co-create the fair's visual identity and celebrating the collaborative nature of print and design.
US leads
Overall, the TDC72 competition awarded 13 Type-High Gold, 26 Silver, 28 Bronze and 93 Certificates of Merit. Winners represented 40 countries and regions, with the United States leading the rankings with 93 winning entries, followed by Mainland China (23), the Netherlands and Spain (nine each), and the United Kingdom (seven).
The competition's Best of Discipline honours went to SMLXL New York for Spatial Festival 2025 (Communication Design), Neighbour Co. of Hong Kong for Tattour 2025 Identity (Lettering), and Adobe Tokyo for Momochidori Variable Font (Type Design).
Winning work will be published in the upcoming edition of The World's Best Typography annual and featured in exhibitions travelling to museums, schools and design institutions worldwide.
