We asked Zhao to tell us everything ATypI members could ever want to know about her. She had much to share!
Please provide us with your bio.
Dr. Zhao Liu, Associate Professor, Central Academy of Fine Arts. Member of Chinese Character Form Information Professional Committee of Chinese Information Processing Society of China, ATypI China Country Delegate of ATypI, script chair of the Chinese Category of Granshan, judge of the D&AD Awards 2020 and 2023 in the Typography category. deputy director of the Chinese Typographic Art and Design Research Centre of CAFA, sales manager of TypeTogether China.
She was project leader for two national research projects, including Way of Type—Modernisation of Chinese Typography, which was the tour exhibition in China to six cities in 2022, and held four virtual conferences with the exhibition with 72 speakers, including several ATypI members. She have worked on a number of social and commercial projects, including Google, Swiss Embassy (China), China (Anyang) International Chinese Character Conference, TypeTogether, Penguin Group, Nongshim Group, FoundeType, Rebel Girls, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Five Continents Communication Centre, Geely, Air China, ByteDance, Glyphs, etc. Member of the project team for the design of the typeface for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
She participated in exhibitions or lectured in nearly 20 countries and regions. Study on Chinese multi-script design, and she and her team are currently working on the following scrips: Hanzi, Nushu, Khitan Small, Oracle, Tangut, Kazakh, Manchu, Liangshan Yi, and Latin. Type designer of Noto Nushu Script Traditional and Noto Serif Khitan Small Script.
She been involved in the introduction, translation or review of the Chinese versions of seven books on typography. Since 2016, I have been actively involved in a project to introduce outstanding international books on typography into China, and have already published six of them—they are Shaping Text, How to Create Typefaces: From Sketch to Screen, Counterpunch: Making Type in the Sixteenth Century, Designing Typefaces Now, The Golden Thread: The Story of Writing, and The Chinese Typewriter: A History. These books are becoming reference books and collections for teaching in institutions. This translation and publication project is continuing.
Give us a sentence that perfectly describes your love for type.
I am interested in the theories and practices that typography encompasses, including internationalisation and conventionality, modernity and tradition, design and technology, as well as the human wisdom behind each script.
Before this year, were you a member of ATypI? If so, when?
[Beginning in] 2014.
Were you previously a member of the ATypI board, or a country delegate? If so, when?
[Country Delegate beginning in] 2017.
Describe your experience/involvement with ATypI activities.
I first attended ATypI in 2012, and I also gave a presentation that year, when I had the opportunity to know many excellent presentations, meet many excellent experts and open a window to and international exchange, I became the Chinese country delegate in 2017, and in 2020 I presented the China 2015 to 2020 report and gave a presentation on this topic. In addition to this, I have given two ATypI presentations on the development of the two unique Chinese scripts.
I have attended nine conferences in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. At same year, I invited several ATypI members to our virtual conference, including Fiona Ross, John D. Berry, José Scaglione, Veronika Burian, Carolina Laudon, Keitaro Sakamoto, Nitesh Yadva and Rainer Erich Scheichelbauer.
Before 2012, we hardly met Chinese scholars and companies at ATypI conferences. In the years since, Chinese scholars as well as companies have been active in ATypI conferences and sponsors. In recent years, small and medium-sized Chinese foundries as well as independent designers have started to participate in ATypI, and ATypI has become increasingly influential in China.
Tell us about your current and past involvement with other type and design organizations.
[No response given.]
Describe your leadership experience with other nonprofits and work with conferences, workshops, publications, teaching, or other activities in the type, design, tech, and related communities.
Since 2016, I have been actively involved in a project to introduce outstanding international books on typography into China, and have already published six of them—they are Shaping Text, How to Create Typefaces: From Sketch to Screen, Counterpunch: Making Type in the Sixteenth Century, Designing Typefaces Now, The Golden Thread: The Story of Writing, and The Chinese Typewriter: A History.
These books are becoming reference books and collections for teaching in institutions. This translation and publication project is continuing. Through these publications, we have also collated a glossary of terms, which is constantly being reviewed and updated, laying the foundation for academic exchange between China and the international community.
I am the Chinese Script Chair for the Granshan Competition and have promote outstanding Chinese design. For the first time, there was a first award in the Chinese category. I also encourage young Chinese researchers to raise their standards and become actively involved in the international typography community. Xunchang Cheng, who is PhD at the University of Reading, has become China’s country delegate and was a judge at NY TDC in New York.
Why should ATypI members elect you to represent them on the board of directors?
China has an extremely rich resource of script design, in the Chinese script library project, now they completed 41 scripts, and many more are being finalised. Each script is the result of collective wisdom and cultural heritage will hopefully be made more known to a wider community through ATypI.
Also in the history of ATypI, no Chinese has ever served as a board member, even less a female one, and the world needs to know about China. I have many years of experience in multi-script design, education, publishing, conferences, exhibitions, international exchanges and business in China. I hope I can use my experience and resources to support ATypI.
We asked Zhao for one more thing…
Please make a short video explaining why you want to be elected to the board, what makes you a good candidate, and why your skills, experience, and ideas will serve and help our community thrive. Something memorable that our members will think of when they are choosing who to vote for.
Answers and materials were provided by the candidate as part of their self-nomination for the ATypI board election. Candidate is a paid ATypI member in good standing and agrees to remain so if they are elected.