The ATypI (/eɪˈtaɪpaɪ/) or Association Typographique Internationale (the International Typography Association) is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to typography and type design. The primary activity of the association is an annual conference, held in a different global city each year.

History

ATypI was founded in 1957 by Charles Peignot (from the French type foundry Deberny & Peignot). The members of the organisation come from the typographic community from all over the world and consist primarily of type designers, representatives of type foundries, graphic designers and typographers.

The organisation is run by a board elected by ATypI members. Each board member is elected by the ATypI membership for a period of three years and may serve up to two consecutive terms. The current president, elected by the board in 2025, is Nada Abdallah. Executive director since 2015 has been Tamye Riggs. Previous presidents have been Charles Peignot, John Dreyfus, Tage Bolander, Martin Fehle, Ernst-Erich Marhencke, Mark Batty, Jean François Porchez, Gerry Leonidas, Jose Scaglione, John D. Berry, Carolina Laudon, Crystian Cruz, Thomas Phinney and Carima el-Behairy.

Purposes

The objective and purpose of ATypI is to provide an integrated forum and conferences for all those involved in the field of fonts and typography through their profession and/or their interests, including without limitation:

  • type designers and typographers;
  • educators in graphic design, educational institutions;
  • developers of typographic software and typesetting equipment of all sorts;
  • printers and advertising agencies;
  • professional organizations, associations; and
  • all people, companies, associations, groups, or clubs interested in typography

ATypI also:

  • preserves the culture, tradition and history of type and typography
  • promotes contemporary digital fonts
  • encourages outstanding typography and typographic design
  • promotes a critical understanding of typographic issues

Conference

The ATypI conference is held internationally, each year at a different city, usually in September or October. It is organised with the help of local members and institutions, often universities or colleges. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ATypI conferences were held virtually.

Overview of ATypI conferences
YearCityCountry
1957LausanneSwitzerland
1958DüsseldorfGermany
1959ParisFrance
1960ParisFrance
1961ZandvoortNetherlands
1962VeronaItaly
1963ViennaAustria
1964CambridgeUnited Kingdom
1965ZurichSwitzerland
1966MainzGermany
1967ParisFrance
1968FrankfurtGermany
1969PragueCzech Republic
1970BrugesBelgium
1971LondonUnited Kingdom
1972BarcelonaSpain
1973CopenhagenDenmark
1974ParisFrance
1975WarsawPoland
1976HamburgGermany
1977LausanneSwitzerland
1978MunichGermany
1979ViennaAustria
1980BaselSwitzerland
1981MainzGermany
1982BeauneFrance
1983BerlinGermany
1984LondonUnited Kingdom
1985KielGermany
1986BaselSwitzerland
1987New YorkUnited States
1988FrankfurtGermany
1989ParisFrance
1990OxfordUnited Kingdom
1991ParmaItaly
1992BudapestHungary
1993AntwerpBelgium
1994San FranciscoUnited States
1995BarcelonaSpain
1996The HagueNetherlands
1997ReadingUnited Kingdom
1998LyonFrance
1999BostonUnited States
2000LeipzigGermany
2001CopenhagenDenmark
2002RomeItaly
2003VancouverCanada
2004PragueCzech Republic
2005HelsinkiFinland
2006LisbonPortugal
2007BrightonUnited Kingdom
2008Saint PetersburgRussia
2009Mexico CityMexico
2010DublinIreland
2011ReykjavíkIceland
2012Hong KongChina
2013AmsterdamNetherlands
2014BarcelonaSpain
2015São PauloBrazil
2016WarsawPoland
2017MontrealCanada
2018AntwerpBelgium
2019TokyoJapan
2020ATypI All Overvirtual event
2021ATypI Tech Talksvirtual event
2021ATypI All Overvirtual event
2022ATypI Tech Talksvirtual event
2023ParisFrance
2024BrisbaneAustralia
2025CopenhagenDenmark
2026StanfordUnited States
2026SharjahUAE

Working Seminars

As well as the main conference, ATypI Working Seminars have taken place in Basel (1974), Reading (1976), The Hague (1978), Mainz (1981), Stanford (1983), Hamburg (1985), Gdańsk (1988), Budapest (1992), Colombo (2019), Puebla (2019) and Amiens (2020).

Prix Charles Peignot

Every three to six years the ATypI awards the Prix Charles Peignot for Excellence in Type Design to a designer under the age of 35, who has made an outstanding contribution to type design. The recipient is chosen by a committee of ATypI members appointed by the Board. Past winners are: Claude Mediavilla (1982), Jovica Veljović (1985), Petr van Blokland (1988), Robert Slimbach (1991), Carol Twombly (1994), Jean François Porchez (1998), Jonathan Hoefler (2002), Christian Schwartz (2007), Alexandra Korolkova (2013), David Jonathan Ross (2018).

External links