Winner: Graphic design of the year 2022. Typotheque has designed the Typotheque North American Syllabics, which are new and unified Canadian syllabic fonts.

This project provides new unified Canadian syllabics fonts that are the result of comprehensive research in collaboration with Indigenous language communities in Canada and the United States, positively supporting their language revitalisation and preservation programmes.

Only once these character additions and representative glyph changes were accepted could a truly complete Unified Canadian Syllabics glyph set and resulting new fonts be created – a process that took two years.

After submitting two successful Unicode proposals which redefined the standards for future Syllabics fonts, local typographic preferences and conventions were identified through consultation with language keepers, resulting in the Lava, November, and October Syllabics typefaces.

Judges comments: "This project demonstrates the power of design as an aid for visual communication. The system of typefaces has huge implications for indigenous communities and the digitalisation of their language and culture. It's an incredibly worthy exercise."

Design studio: Typotheque

Project: Typotheque North American Syllabics