FAQs

If your artwork has the highest public community score at the end of the 7 day voting period compared with other entries published during the same week slot, then you will be awarded the Lettering Live Wire digital badge. You can proudly display it on your portfolio website, email signature or anywhere else you’d like to show it off. Artwork selected for this award will be scored by the Typefolk judges at the beginning of the following month it was first published.

If your artwork receives the highest judges score for the month, you will be awarded a Lettering Leader digital badge and digital certificate which both validate your skill and achievement. Upon being recognised as a Lettering Leader, your artwork will be automatically entered into the final stage of the awards.

At the end of the awards season (to allow for the last monthly judging session to take place) all artwork pieces which have been awarded Lettering Leader will undergo thorough and thoughtful scoring by the Typefolk judges. Again, the piece of artwork with the highest judges score will be selected as the winner of the Typefolk Awards for the season. A digital badge, digital certificate and trophy will be awarded along with the very esteemed title of Lettering Legend. If your artwork is the second highest scoring piece at this stage, you will be awarded a runner up trophy and digital certificate.

Yes, you can enter up to three pieces of artwork each year (Jan 1st 00:00 - Dec 31st 23:59 UTC). You will need to submit each entry separately.

Your artwork will be published during the next available weekly slot. Therefore, it may be a number of weeks before your artwork is published depending on how many artists have submitted work before you. We will send you an email to let you know when your entry has been published and can be scored by the public community.

Yes, you will maintain ownership rights to any artwork you enter. By entering your artwork, you grant us free unlimited rights to publish, display, promote, distribute, feature and share it on the Typefolk website, Typefolk social platforms, in any Typefolk newsletter or communication and on any other related platforms or related printed media.

At present we do not accept entries sent via post. If there is a lot of interest in submitting entries by post, we may open up this option in the future.

The image of your artwork you upload when entering should be 1600 pixels wide by 1600 pixels tall. Your artwork should also be 2Mb’s or less in file size and either a JPEG, JPG or PNG.

You should not enter any artwork which you do not have the rights to or is not your own. For example, an image containing fonts which you have licensed from someone else, even if you have modified the fonts should not be submitted. You can enter artwork which you have made in collaboration with others and which you have the rights to share. Just be sure to get their permission, make sure they have read our Privacy Notice and include their name when you submit the artwork entry. Please note, if recognised as a Lettering Legend or runner up only one trophy will be provided.

You should not enter artwork which is not your own or which infringes on copyright or any trademarks. You should also not enter any artwork which may be considered obscene, offensive or inappropriate. Your artwork should utilise the Latin alphabet (including accented letters) for translation purposes and be legible. The image you submit of your artwork should be of high quality. If you are submitting a photograph of your artwork it should be both well and evenly lit. Your artwork image should also not contain external elements such as a frame unless relevant to the piece. If an artwork image does not meet the Entry Guidelines and criteria specified here it may be disregarded.

Lettering, calligraphy or type should be the primary focal point within your artwork. It’s okay if your artwork contains other elements such as a photograph background (providing it is your own image) or illustrations, but elements such as these should not overpower or be more prominent than the lettering, calligraphy or type featured within your artwork.

At present community scoring payments and trophy shipping payments can be made using PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account it is still possible to pay using your card through PayPal.

Refunds cannot be issued for community scoring fees or trophy shipping payments. If you have made a mistake and scored the wrong entry or meant to score an entry differently please contact us immediately. When contacting us about scoring the wrong entry please let us know which entry you scored, the score you applied and which entry you meant to score. When contacting us about an entry you meant to score differently please let us know which entry you scored, the score that you applied and what score you meant to apply. We will then make amendments. To make changes to scores you must notify us before the community scoring period expires for the relevant entry.

If you are selected to earn a trophy you will be responsible for the cost of shipping your trophy. We will request your delivery address then obtain a value for the shipping cost. You will be notified of the cost (typically between £10 - £25 GBP) and sent an invoice to pay. Upon receipt of payment your trophy will be shipped. If we do not receive payment for shipping we will be unable to ship your trophy.

By paying a small fee to score artwork, the community helps to keep entry into the Typefolk awards free for artists. This is valuable for artists who are often excluded from opportunities due to socio-economic factors. The fee also helps support the running costs of Typefolk.

Whether you are a judge or community member, you should not score your own artwork.

Scores are typically updated every 24 to 48 hours throughout the 7 days that a piece of artwork can be rated by the public community. Scores are not automatically updated. This is so that they can be checked for authenticity and for fraudulent activity. Judges scores will be combined and published at the end of their rating periods.

Community scoring takes place over 7 days, as does monthly scoring by the Typefolk judges. End of season judging takes place over 14 days to allow for a more in-depth scoring period. Artwork will be scored by Typefolk judges early each month throughout the awards season and mid month at the end of the awards season to allow for the last round of monthly judging to take place.

In the very rare situation that a draw occurs, Typefolk judges will review scores and new judging criteria may be introduced in order to select an overall winner. Further time may also be taken to ensure as many of the public community or judges have scored the artwork as possible.

Yes, all of the scores submitted to Typefolk are manually reviewed by team members before being updated onto the website. We look out for suspicious behaviour or trends, and utilise other preventative measures to ensure scores are authentic.

The Typefolk judges are a panel of professional artists and designers, many of which specialise in lettering, calligraphy and type design. Between them, they have years of relevant experience and a lot of passion for the lettering arts, giving them a keen eye for judging.

If you’re interested in becoming a Typefolk judge please fill out this application form.

If you’d like to contact us, send a message using our contact page. We're happy to answer any questions you might have. We aim to reply to messages within 2 business days.