Helen Deng

    hneng_deng@qq.com

    SHENZHENERS now have a chance to appreciate some of the best type designs in the world.

    The Tokyo TDC 2012, the annual touring exhibition of the Tokyo Type Directors Club (Tokyo TDC), is being shown at the OCT Art & Design Gallery in Shenzhen until May 21.

    It is the club’s first exhibition in China, aiming to present original works by top global type designers to more Chinese design enthusiasts and to create a platform for international design exchange, according to the OCT Art & Design Gallery, China’s first design museum.

    The works presented at this exhibition are the award-winning submissions from 2012, as well as a selection of the best works from the past decade.

    A copy of the 2012 Grand Prix winner, “Comedy Carpet” is among the 178 exhibits. Created by British artist Gordon Young for the Blackpool Council, the original work, extending 2,200 square meters in front of Blackpool Tower, the United Kingdom, contains over 160,000 granite letters embedded into concrete, pushing the boundaries of public art and typography to their limits. Referring to the work of more than 1,000 comedians and comedy writers, “Comedy Carpet” gives visual form to jokes, songs and catchphrases from ancient times to the present day.

    Also on exhibition is the interactive music video game for the song “Bell” by the Japanese rock band Androp. With the game, the player’s message of letters will create an animal and it travels through the world of the music, creating entertainment in the process of delivering the message.

    “The essence of these works is the perception and concise expression of actual phenomena. As you appreciate the works in this exhibition, you can sense the perfect integration of the three factors of inspiration, presence and form,” said Tokyo TDC Director Katsumi Asaba.

    The Tokyo TDC was founded in 1987. Since its beginnings, the Tokyo TDC has always stood at the leading edge of Asian typography, attracting the admiration of many front designers, who are always proud to win an award in the annual competition.

    “The core focus of TDC is the presentation of movable type with its profound connections between text and language, as well as the role of artistic directors in meeting the needs of enterprises and their connection to graphic design, the mother of communication arts. We have always strived to harmonize the development of these three aspects,” said Asaba.

    “In Tokyo, our exhibition has grown into one of the rare exhibitions that is truly international in scale,” he said.

    Since the turn of the century, increasing numbers of Chinese designers have been taking part in the Tokyo TDC annual competition, and more of their works have been selected and awarded there, a testament to the growing relationship between this international design fete and the world of Chinese design.

    “China today has a broad field for future development, and Shenzhen is the epicenter for the rapid growth and remarkable achievements China has seen in this field. I’m honored to have the opportunity to bring this exhibition to the OCT Art & Design Gallery here in Shenzhen,” he said.

    Time: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., through May 21 (closed Mondays)

    Venue: OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shennan Boulevard, Nanshan District (南山区深南大道华•美术馆)

    Metro: Luobao Line, OCT Station (华侨城站), Exit C