The International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD) is a

professional body A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and the ...

run by and for

typographers Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing (leading), and ...

graphic designers A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

, and

educators A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. The society has an international membership and its aims are to establish and maintain standards of typography and to provide a forum for debate.

History

The ISTD was originally formed as the British Typographers' Guild (BTG) in 1928, when Vincent Steer and friends met in a Sicilian restaurant in

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

, to found the society. Steer recognized the need and the potential for the creative typographer's skills in a world where most 'design' was carried out through compositors' layouts. From his own background in printing, and the opportunity to observe the trade in America, he determined to develop the profession of typography in the UK, and to that end started the British Typographers Guild with six other like-minded founding members. In 1953 the guild became the Society of Typographic Designers (STD), and in 1999, recognizing its influence in other countries, and at the behest of then President

Colin Banks Colin Banks (16 January 1932 – 9 March 2002) was a British designer who co-founded Banks & Miles, designers and typographers, in London in 1958 with John Miles. Major clients of the partnership included the Consumers' Association, the Post Offi ...

, it became the International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD).

TypoGraphic

''TypoGraphic'' is the journal of the ISTD and was first published in 1971. Selected writings from 30 years of ''TypoGraphic'' were published in an anthology in 2001. A complete set of ''TypoGraphic'' journals is available at the St Bride Library.

ISTD International Typographic Awards

The ISTD runs the International Typographic Awards which are held as an appraisal of current standards in typographic design and are judged by some of today's leading graphic, interactive and typographic design specialists: * A Certificate of Excellence, awarded to all finalists, signifies a high standard of design in conjunction with a high standard of typography. * Premier Awards, awarded to designers of outstanding submissions, are offered for work that has not only met the criteria for the award of a Certificate of Excellence, but which is also considered outstanding by a majority of the jurors. * The winning submission, selected from all of the Premier Awards, is judged to be the most significant typographical achievement, exemplifying excellence. The ISTD Awards are held every three years: there were awards in 2011 and 2014, and after a long gap, the next awards will be during 2023.

Categories of membership

The ISTD has several categories of membership, some with designatory

postnominal Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

s: * Honorary Fellowship (HonFISTD) is awarded in recognition of outstanding typographic design work, or significant contribution to the aims of, or service to, the ISTD or the typographic industry. * Fellowship (FISTD) is awarded in recognition of the nominee's professional standing or for their services to the ISTD. * Membership (MISTD) is open to all practising typographers, graphic designers, and educators who show, by submission of their typographic design work, or through evidence of competence in their field of activity, that their professional ability has reached the high standard required by the ISTD. * Student Membership is open to students who are successful in the Student Assessment. * Corporate Membership is open to design organizations, companies, and other commercial institutions to support the ISTD. * Institutional Membership is open to educational institutions involved in the delivery of typographic studies. This offers a range of benefits including reduced submission fees for students submitting projects for assessment and teaching materials from the ISTD education archive.

ISTD Student Assessment

The annual Student Assessment, started in 1975, allows students to gain entry to the ISTD. This is achieved by assessment of their work applied to a rigorous brief (five new project briefs are published in October each year), and is open to those registered on a recognised full-time

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

course. Assessment is carried out by teams of practicing designers and typographic educators. Student Assessments are held in

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and

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to deal with the submissions relating to each location. These are coordinated by the ISTD Education Team under the aegis of the Education Director.

References

{{Authority control Typography Design awards Organizations established in 1928 Typographic Designers Design institutions