International Typography Biennial  Exhibition organized by Visual Communication Design Indonesia Institute of Arts Surakarta

About Typography

Typography as the art of processing letters is a fundamental medium of communication in the history of human civilization

The beginnings of typography can be traced back to the Stone Age with the discovery of symbols on cave walls as a form of language. The more advanced a civilization is, the more complex the human need to communicate through typography. The development of typography by the Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans was the answer to the complexity of these needs. The Middle Ages contributed to the development of typography with handwritten characters until the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg which changed the technique of writing production and distribution. 

Furthermore, people also learn about the Bauhaus Movement which became a milestone of the modern era through the principle of universalism in art, architecture, and design. The rise of Pop Art brought typography in the art movement that protested elitism along with its serious attributes. The Pop Art movement and the attractive recent typographical creations emerged and offered resistance through humor, cynicism, and sharp criticism towards the established power and industry. The development of typography subsequently became a means of daily expression.  

Typography in today's visual arts world is more known as the science that supports visual communication design; therefore, apparently, typography becomes limited only in its function of marketing communication. For this reason, Typefest offers the idea of typography as a medium of personal, social, and cultural expressions through biennial exhibitions. Typography should not only be seen as part of visual image, but also as a language in itself. Typography also can become an art form itself that perfectly demonstrates the dichotomy between meaning and expressive form of language. 


About The Theme

What The Font?

Celebrating The Independence of Personal Letters Identity

Curatorial Frame

Dessy Rachma Waryanti

Traditionally, fonts are often seen as a tool to communicate either in a straightforward, matter-of-fact manner or with a personal style and compass of beauty. This time, can we process it further to make it independent?

"What The Font" is an exhibition that delegates artists, designers and the general public to liberate fonts with strategies of typographic design ingenuity and courage. How far we can freely respond to letters as independent and individualized icons. We will see and review together how letters can be played to transform into new forms whose processing process certainly involves the personal background of the creator according to the origin of locality, social and heritage of cultural principles. The creative process in this exhibition invites us to look at letters in a new way to find new layers of meaning and expression that are projective, fun and of course: refreshing!


Exhibition general rules

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About The Theme :

“What The Font” Celebrating The Independence of Personal Letters Identity 

Exhibits are to use typography (all kinds of letters: Latin, vernacular, or local characters) as the primary part of the work visualization. 

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Artwork

Individual or group work, and must be no more than 3 works per person. 

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Submission

Submissions are collected in two formats: 

For physical exhibition :  A2, using provided template CMYK, 300 dpi, PDF or .PNG

For online catalog : original artwork without templates A4, CMYK, 200 dpi, PDF or .PNG

File name: Name_country_artworktitle_typefest2024.pdf

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Digital File

Two dimentional artwork : A2 typography  posters,  CMYK, 300 dpi, PDF or .PNG  using the provided templates.  and the original artwork files without templates.

Three dimensional artwork : Exhibited 3D artworks should be not larger than 2x2x2 meters in size.


Submit your artwork by  :

SUBMISSION CLOSED. THANK YOU!

Details

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Exhibition : September 12-14, 2024

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Location : Gallery of Fakultas Seni Rupa dan Desain, Institut Seni Indonesia Surakarta, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia


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Participant : Open to all and free.

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Exhibits : 

Recent works have been completed within the last 5 years.


 

All curated works will be in online display, Offline display is for entries that pass curating process.   

Submission Works

*** Three-dimensional works installed by the exhibitors themselves three days before the opening of the exhibition on September 12, 2024. *** 

 

Check out the online catalog here! (Coming Soon)

The selected works that have been curated :

COMING SOON 

Thank you for your contribution and support for Typefest 2024 🙌🏼

Kindest Regards,