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We celebrate non-Latin typefaces and typography, design and communication that enable communities to develop culture and enterprises. The Non-Latin Typographic Project | Competition, Conferences, Exhibitions & Publications

15/01/2025

Meet Shani Avni, the Hebrew Script Chair for the GRANSHAN Type Design Competition 2023/2024, who brings a unique blend of expertise, passion, and dedication to the world of Hebrew type design. As the Ismar David Assistant Curator at the RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection, Shani has spent years researching, preserving, and advancing Hebrew typography.

In the interview, when asked about her favorite Hebrew glyph, Shani’s response reflects her deep understanding of form and function, as well as her appreciation for the nuances of type design.

Catch all the videos now on the GRANSHAN YouTube channel!

13/01/2025

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the new GRANSHAN Supporting Foundry Club. These high-profile foundry members have pledged their support for our shared vision over the next four to six years, helping us build a strong structural, administrative, and communicative foundation for GRANSHAN’s continued growth.

Their invaluable support will allow us to expand GRANSHAN’s impact, including the exciting new Communication Design Competition beyond Latin in 2025.

Each foundry will contribute not only through their financial support but also by having a leader join the GRANSHAN Sounding Board, offering strategic guidance and insights to help shape this ambitious journey. We are truly happy to have them on board and deeply appreciate their commitment.

10/01/2025

Discover the philosophy of renowned type designer Anuthin Wongsunkakon, Script Chair of the South East Asian Script Group and founder of Cadson Demak, in this inspiring interview!

From the art of crafting individual glyphs to the evolving dynamics of typeface design, Anuthin emphasizes the importance of teamwork, innovation, and trusting the younger generation to push the industry forward.

His unique analogy compares type design to cooking: while many can create, true mastery and leadership demand exceptional skill and dedication.

08/01/2025

Dr. Liu Zhao, a renowned type and visual communication designer, teacher, and researcher, has served as the Script Chair for the Chinese Script Group at the GRANSHAN Type Design Competition for many years. She reflects on her experience judging at ATypI Warsaw 2016 and her enduring passion for type design.

From her deep admiration for the elegant, slender gold calligraphy of the North Song Dynasty to her insights on the evolving role of AI in type design, Liu Zhao brings a unique perspective to the artistry and precision of the craft. 🇨🇳

She also emphasized the importance of honoring traditional conventions in type design while encouraging young designers to refine their skills and participate in competitions.

06/01/2025

In this interview, Nino Jishkariani, founder and supervisor of the Georgian Typeface Association, shares her expertise on type design, the challenges of designing Georgian scripts, and the development of typefaces beyond Latin.

Drawing from her influential role in the Georgian Typeface Association and her experience as the GRANSHAN Script Chair for the Georgian Script Group, Nino offers valuable insights and practical advice for aspiring font designers. She also highlights the importance of preserving cultural heritage within the context of modern typography.

03/01/2025

Meet Ana Sanikidze, the gifted Georgian type designer who took home the grand prize for her typeface Adapter Georgianat the 13th GRANSHAN Type Design Competition 2023/2024! 🏆

In this exclusive interview, recorded this June during the GRANSHAN Talks & Ceremony at the University of Reading, Ana delves into her inspiring journey. From earning a Master's in Type Design to creating award-winning fonts, collaborating with Rosetta, and advocating for Georgian design, her story is one of passion and achievement. 🇬🇪

Ana also secured second prize in the A1 Text Typeface category with her project Nocturno Georgian.
Eager to learn about her creative process and her devotion to crafting Georgian typefaces? Watch the video and let Ana’s dedication and success inspire you.
Catch all the presentations now on the GRANSHAN YouTube channel!

22/11/2024

Special Mention: 音回 / Yīn huí by Zhou Chuanhui. In the Script Group and Category: Chinese A2 Display Typeface.

Description of the Typeface by the Submitter
格⻛形字的具独书隶考参构结，体字款一的计设而合结相体黑与书隶以是音回粗超合结再，整工与一统的体黑失不又，扁宽的书隶取面字。稳沉失不而逸飘。象印的重稳厚敦以人给体整，画笔的�—�This is a font designed by combining Clerical Script and Blackletter, the structure refers to the unique glyph style of Clerical Script, which is flowing but not losing its composure. The face of the font takes the broadness and flatness of Clerical Script without losing the unity and neatness of Blackletter, and combined with the ultra-thick strokes, the whole gives people a thick and steady impression.

🌟 Congratulations to Zhou Chuanhui for this outstanding achievement! 🌟

20/11/2024

Special Mention: Grenette by Monotype Studio, Colophon Foundry. In the Script Group and Category: Greek C1 Multiscript Text Typefaces.

Description of the Typeface by the Submitter
Combining influences from Windsor (from Stephenson Blake & Co’s Wood Letter Specimen, 1915) and Richmond Old Style (from DeLittle’s Wood Type Specimens, 1966). This typeface’s imposing serifs contrast with the serif-less interiors of certain forms such as «n», «h» and «v» which allows its personality to lie within intentional asymmetry and subtle quirks. Certain characteristics evolve through the styles (Light through Black) as weight increases; from the Serifs being round and bulged in the Light, therefore feeling more delicate; to square and sturdy in the Black weight, feeling more robust, giving it a distinct appearance across all styles.

🌟 Congratulations to Monotype Studio, Colophon Foundry for this outstanding achievement! 🌟

18/11/2024

Special Mention: Aperçu Thai by Monotype Studio, Colophon Foundry. In the Script Group and Category: South East Asian Scripts A2 Display Typeface.

Description of the Typeface by the Submitter
A modern Thai loopless style based on geometric shapes with a slight calligraphic influence drawn from its Latin counterpart. While the overall design is regulated by geometric shapes, individual letterforms still contain nuances that add a contemporary flavor.

🌟 Congratulations to Monotype Studio, Colophon Foundry for this outstanding achievement! 🌟

16/11/2024

Special Mention: Spore by Damien Hou Yin Chong. In the Script Group and Category: South Asian Scripts B1 Text Typefaces with a latin complement.

Description of the Typeface by the Submitter
This is a contemporary typeface that functions as both a display face at larger sizes, and a book face with a whimsical undertone at smaller sizes. The typeface is born from a deconstructed approach to book typography that references the Oulipo and Postmodern movements. Seemingly paradoxical at times, certain letterforms look synthetic and unusual at larger sizes, with features that are seemingly appear randomly or are completely disconnected with the pen or the stroke. However, at the same time, the tapering and inflecting strokes, hark back to expressive and human calligraphic forms by masters such as Oldřich Menhart. The typeface has characteristic ink-blob like terminals, tapering/inflecting strokes, a mild angularity, optically balanced letters that sit on different baselines. These details only stand out at large sizes and disappear almost completely in smaller sizes.

🌟 Congratulations to Damien Hou Yin Chong for this outstanding achievement! 🌟

14/11/2024

Special Mention: Splinter by Namrata Goyal, Frederik Berlaen. In the Script Group and Category: South Asian Scripts A2 Display Typeface.

Description of the Typeface by the Submitter
The seed of this design lies in a piece of lettering found in a long-forgotten book on an old bookshelf, which was filled with 1960s-70s titles, mostly in Hindi. This typeface explores variable axes in a grid-based modular design space, pushing legibility to the extremes and creating letterforms that can be used beyond text– as patterns, or other graphic elements. It would not be a stretch to say it is the first of its kind in modern Indic Types. At the centre of the design space is a pliable, pixel font. This source stretches into five variable axes and three binaries for inline styles. Presently, the typeface supports the basic Devanagari unicode sets, some (not extensive) support for conjuncts, Marathi and Nepali glyphs, numerals, symbols and punctuation. As it develops– alongside more experiments with the design space, the font will expand to cover Latin diacritics followed by other scripts down the line. Version 1 was published in November 2023.

🌟Congratulations to Namrata Goyal, Frederik Berlaen for this outstanding achievement!🌟

12/11/2024

Special Mention: SOS_VAYELCH by Tigran Sosoyan. In the Script Group and Category: Edik Ghabuzyan Lifetime Achievement Award for Armenian Type Design A2 Display Typeface.

Description of the Typeface by the Submitter
SOS_VAYELCH is a display typeface, which can be used for designing posters, titles, magazine pages and so on. It was designed in 2022.

🌟 Congratulations to Tigran Sosoyan for this outstanding achievement! 🌟

11/11/2024

We are pleased to announce the official partnership between the GRANSHAN Foundation and the Design Institute in Tbilisi. In the future, we want to work closely together and benefit from our networks. Thanks to the Association „Georgian Typeface’“for the great support!

10/11/2024

Special Mention: SFT Sushka by Yulia Gonina. In the Script Group and Category: Cyrillic B2 Display Typefaces with a latin complement.

Description of the Typeface by the Submitter
The driving idea behind this typeface was my observation of designers constantly grappling with protruding diacritics in narrow line spacing. When it comes to large headlines, and the desire to reduce white space, it’s not just about adjusting letter spacing — designers also want to narrow the line spacing. This is not a problem in English, but many other languages are less fortunate due to diacritics. I wanted to fundamentally solve this problem. It was an interesting graphic challenge to make the letters with accents shorter so that the diacritics would only slightly protrude above the line, both top and bottom. Regarding font family – I intrigued by the idea to achieve an effect where the font appeared to stretch and compress vertically. So I had to change the width and thickness of the fonts simultaneously. As a result, the family turned out to be compact and functional – it allows for selecting the necessary width, thickness, and even the height of the typeface simultaneously.

🌟 Congratulations to Yulia Gonina for this outstanding achievement! 🌟

08/11/2024

Special Mention: Schmetterling by Anna Komleva, Dmitry Goloub. In the Script Group and Category: Cyrillic B2 Display Typefaces with a latin complement.

🌟 Congratulations to Anna Komleva, Dmitry Goloub for this outstanding achievement! 🌟

06/11/2024

Special Mention: Sakkal Saad by Mamoun Sakkal, Aida Sakkal. In the Script Group and Category: Arabic A1 Text Typefaces.

Description of the Typeface by the Submitter
A little bold, a little chunky, a little playful - this font is a fun Naskh with both traditional and modern design elements. The flat baseline connection is broken up by the occasional dropped connection and contrasted with sharp angles, both contributing to the font’s overall informal yet regular rhythm. With six weights from Thin to Extra Bold, the font is ideal for long text setting especially for books and magazines. It has very compact vertical proportions for space economy while maintaining legibility. The sharp strokes of the pen are clearly expressed for a contemporary look and the fine characteristics of Naskh calligraphy are emphasized. We have also introduced a large number of fine contemporary typographic details for visual appeal. There are three swash options and a compact option; many alternate marks, letter forms, and spacing options; as well as flat tails to emphasize the bold baseline.

🌟 Congratulations to Mamoun Sakkal, Aida Sakkal for this outstanding achievement! 🌟

04/11/2024

Special Mention: Rubina Brush Display by Lora Shtirkova. In the Script Group and Category: Cyrillic B2 Display Typefaces with a latin complement.

Description of the Typeface by the Submitter
The typeface draws inspiration from the flat brush, highlighting its flexibility and the range of manipulations and rotations it enables. While calligraphy serves as the foundation, some referred to it as an ‘artificial brush,’ not because it truly is one, but due to its construction involving more pen lifts. Building upon this base, the design is further enhanced with hand-drawn elements. A distinctive characteristic is the ‘short overlap’ evident in the round letters, extending to the stems in a unique manner. During the process, the shapes in the Cyrillic enriched the Latin, and vice versa. The style is Bold, featuring a 10-degree slant that enhances its dynamic appearance, complementing the expressive shapes to achieve the desired outcome.

🌟 Congratulations to Lora Shtirkova for this outstanding achievement! 🌟

02/11/2024

Special Mention: Rezak by Anya Danilova. In the Script Group and Category: Georgian A1 Text Typefaces.

Description of the Typeface by the Submitter
A typeface was inspired by cutting letters out of a material. With only a few cuts, the shapes remain dark and simple. With more and more cuts, the shapes become lighter and more defined. It started as a student project and for the sake of the concept had a one range between the darkest style (least cuts, sans-serif) and the lightest style (regular, serif). Now, the type family grew into having separate Text styles which are serif, and a complimentary Display styles which are sans-serif. The roughness and irregularity of strokes provide a strong character to a typeface and translating this character into other scripts such as Georgian was not only a challenge but a constant discovery of the possibilities of shapes. Although the strong character of a typeface can limit the ways of using it, text styles have a major glyphset to be used in a broad range of tasks and can be read in text point sizes.

🌟 Congratulations to Anya Danilova for this outstanding achievement! 🌟

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Videos

Design ohne Titel.mp4

It was only a few weeks ago that we visited Georgia and Armenia to meet and honour the winners of the 13th GRANSHAN Type Design Competition in person. Thank you once again for the fantastic reception at the Design Institute @designinstitute_ in Tbilisi and the warm welcome in Armenia! - The team around GRANSHAN President Boris Kochan and Chairwoman Veronika Burian was glad to personally hand over the certificates and the coveted megaphones with the inscription »Give Voice To Type« to Ana Sanikidze, Nikoloz Khipashvili, Arman Harutyunyan, Meri Gharibyan and many more of the winners and enjoy the wide range of exhibited type design posters. 👏 - Last but not least, we used the trip as an opportunity to thank Edik Ghabuzyan for his tireless work for GRANSHAN and the competition and to present him with the Golden Lifetime Honor Medal 🏆 Stay tuned for more news to come! 💫 www.granshan.com #granshan #competition #roadtrip #honormedal #gettogether #exhibition @wickedletters @arman_harutyunyan_art @gheafonts

GRANSHAN Conference 360 II.mov

Nostalgia – Pretty good times & types with a cute dog and our lovely guests at the GRANSHAN Conference 2022 in Munich, Germany.

GRANSHAN HALL.mov

The atmosphere in the beautiful hall at Literaturhaus München is becoming more vibrant as more people arrive for the GRANSHAN Conference 2022.

The Evolution of Hangul_ King Sejong and the Birth of the Korean Writing System.mp4

In his insightful presentation at the GRANSHAN Conference 2022, Prof. Chang Sik Kim excavated the rich history of the Korean writing system.

GRANSHAN Conference 360 cam.mov

Attendees of the 2022 GRANSHAN Conference were greeted by a wall of posters showcasing the winners of the competition, along with a friendly bear mascot adding to the amazing location at Literaturhaus Munich.

The Power of Visual Storytelling_ Unlocking Creativity through Photography and Film.mp4

In a talk at the GRANSHAN Conference 2022, Ruben Malayan highlighted the crucial role of storytelling in the visual arts. You can find the entire video on the GRANSHAN YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7H9WYrPo90

From Bastille to Success_ Embracing Change in My Atelier.mp4

Today is International Women's Day. For this special day, we have Anette Lenz delivering a powerful talk at the GRANSHAN Conference 2022, emphasizing that change is possible. Anette's message serves as a reminder that progress is achievable through collective action and determination. #inspireinclusion

How to Succeed as a Type Designer_ Tips from the Experts.mp4

Elenis advice for aspiring type designers: Be wild and explore! ....and don´t forget to submit you work to the GRANSHAN Competition...only one day to go! Good luck!

From Hating Fonts to Falling in Love_ My Journey as a Type Designer.mp4

Learn more about Eleni's design background and her journey from hate to love.

The Pitfalls of Latinization_ How it Affects Greek Typography.mp4

GRANSHAN meets Eleni Beveratou. Take a look at our interview with Greek Script Specialist Eleni explaining what she thinks are the most common mistakes from (Greek) font designers. Remember to submit your entry for this year's GRANSHAN Competition - Only 3 days left.

Uncovering the Secrets of Greek Typography_ Achieving Quality and Harmony.mp4

GRANSHAN meets Eleni Beveratou. Get a glimpse into the world of typeface evaluation with our Script Specialist Greek, Eleni Beveratou. Excited to have her expertise for the 13th GRANSHAN type design competition!