Here are messages from each member of the judges of Kanji Category.
honorific titles omitted
Masahiko Kozuka
I am delighted to learn that the Morisawa Type Design Competition will resume this year. The environment surrounding letters and typography today has drastically changed since the previous competitions held toward the end of the last century. Notwithstanding the changes in technology, from the age of types and type-setting, visual communication today encompasses print media and moving images. And in our daily contexts, we as users are now enabled to choose our fonts. As more people have become interested in fonts, I believe the time is ripe to seriously respond to their demands.
The most important thing to keep in mind when designing a font is to make sure that a single letter does not complete in of itself on a given sheet of paper. To use the example of hiragana, what should be sought is a font design that enables the 48 letters to resonate as a whole. I especially hope first-time entrants will enjoy submitting their works to this competition.
Osamu Torinoumi
Typefaces are foundations of culture. Changes to our living environment in the wake of 3/11 will no doubt affect language and communication. How will typefaces change in these circumstances, along with developments in personal computing and globalized worldviews? I hope to bear witness to powerful type designs embodying a new worldview of a new era. What joy would it be, if this competition brings about a text typeface that will
Yasuhito Nagahara
Regardless of a country or a region, a human communication is verbal. However, not everyone can read and write as writing is something acquired. There are quite a few countries where literacy is barely over 50 %. This means three to four people out of ten canʼt communicate by writing on average worldwide. Furthermore, those who could appreciate something extra in subtle differences put into each form of character must make up 10% of the literacy population.
We, who work with typeface design professionally, can be regarded as approaching to people of such specific intellect. Should we try to make more mass appeal, or to send a message driving deep into hearts of a few people? Either way, emergence of typefaces breaking all the conventional rules and expanding the framework of characters is now sought. Are you ready?
Kenya Hara
The news of the restart of the Morisawa Type Design Competition struck me as extremely timely. In an environment where onscreen type display has drastically improved and typefaces can be used in the cloud, I believe it possible to re-envision the potential of typography. I have no doubt that type forms will evolve anew as information spreads across national borders. As someone who is currently completing a typeface design, I am all the more looking forward to the competition. I hope substantial entries will be submitted from all over the world.