The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia announces its second international type design competition Granshan 2009. All typefaces designed or digitised after 2007 are eligible for submission to the competition. Citizens of Armenia as well as foreign designers or organisations can take part in the competition, which is open to both designers and producers of fonts.

Submissions can be entered in the following categories:

Armenian text fontsArmenian school textbook and children's book fontsArmenian traditional text fontsLatin text fontsCyrillic text fontsDisplay fonts

The deadline for submission is September 20, 2009. Judging will take place in Yerevan from October 5 to 9, 2009.

Requirements

The fonts submitted to the competition must comply with, and use the Unicode encoding system and contain the required set of symbols of the given language group. Ideally the submissions should be OpenType fonts. Font categories 1, 2, 4, 5 are to be submitted in four styles: Regular, Bold, Italic (Oblique), Bold Italic (Bold Oblique). Other additional styles are welcomed, but are not required. Sets of mathematical symbols, decorative symbols etc. may also be included but are not required. Availability of the following ligatures in the Fonts of nomination 3 is optional.

մն մե մի մխ մկ զբ զը զթ զի զլ զխ զյ զշ զչ զջ զր զց զք լբ լը լթ լի լլ լխ լյ լշ

լչ լջ լր լց լք հյ ղբ ղը ղթ ղի ղլ ղխ ղյ ղշ ղչ ղջ ղր ղց ղք շբ շը շթ շլ շի շխ շյ

շշ շչ շջ շր շց շք չբ չը չթ չի չլ չխ չյ չշ չչ չջ չր չց չք ջբ ջը ջթ ջի ջխ ջլ ջյ ջշ ջչ

ջջ ջր ջց ջք վբ վը վթ վի վլ վխ վյ վշ վչ վջ վր վց վք վն քյ Այ

Fonts of the nominations 1, 2, 3 must include the Armenian currency (dram) symbol, symbols of index numbers and eternity symbol. Inclusion of Cyrillic or Latin fonts in projects of the nominations 1, 2, 3 is optional. Inclusion of Armenian fonts in projects of the nominations 4, 5 is optional. Art, Title, Script and other display fonts can be submitted to nomination 6. Every participant is allowed to submit entries in several or all categories, yet not more than three (3) entries per category.

The following types of design are eligible for submission:

Original designs

Typeface designs wholly or substantially original in conception and execution, having no direct prototypes, nor being imitations of any existing typefaces.Historical revivals

Typeface designs based upon historical models and digital versions of existing typefaces (for example "Aramyan" or "Polis").Derivative designs

Versions of existing or historical typefaces with adding new glyphs (ligatures, small capitals, old-style/lining/tabular figures, accented/ alternative glyphs, fleurons, etc.); Armenian or Cyrillic versions of existing modern or historical Latin typefaces. For historical revivals or derivative designs, the original font publisher/designer and date of creation must be credited.Judging and jury

The judging will not only cover the artistic value of the entries but also their

functional and technical quality, such as:

Preservation of the traditional graphemes of the Armenian Alphabet. It is required that the font preserves the traditional style and image of all corresponding symbols, disregarding the degree of stylisation.Letter spacing, proportions, and kerning.Availability of traditional ligatures for the corresponding language group.

The competition will be judged by:

Migel Sousa | Adobe Systems | type designerFred Afrikyan | architect, type designerAra Baghdasaryan | State Academy of Art | type designer.Garegin Martirosian | chief designer at Printinfo publishing house.Carolyn Puzzovio | principal lecturer at the School of Art & Design, University of Lincoln, UK | type designerPrizes

The first prize winners will be awarded 80 thousand Armenian drams ($250) for each category. 2nd and 3rd prize winners will receive diplomas and prizes (70 thousand and 50 thousand Armenian drams respectively) in each category.

Deadline

All entries must be delivered by 17:00, September 20, 2009 (Armenian time) at the Book Chamber of the Republic of Armenia.

For further information contact the representative of the competition's organizing committee Edik Ghabuzyan (at the address above) or visit the Granshan website. The announcement of competition results and the awards ceremony will take place in Yerevan at a date to be confirmed.