A Clean Sweep
Top global design awards
- Date
- June 2026
It has been an extraordinary year for TypeTogether. Our groundbreaking handwriting education project, Primarium, and its flagship font family, Playwrite, have been recognized with a stunning collection of the world’s most prestigious design awards. From London to Vienna, the message is clear: innovative, research-driven type design can have a profound global impact.
The Crown Jewels: A Trio of 2025 Wins
D&AD Yellow Pencil
In a testament to its design excellence, Playwrite won the coveted D&AD Yellow Pencil, the highest award from the Design & Art Direction association. Notably, it was the only type design to receive this honor in 2025. TypeTogether co-founders Veronika Burian and José Scaglione accepted the award in London.
ED-Awards Gold & Best of Show
Just weeks later, the European Design Awards (ED-Awards) awarded Playwrite Gold in the Original Typeface, Text category, along with the Best of Show award in graphic applications, recognizing the team’s outstanding presentation of the font’s capabilities.
TDC Certificate of Typographic Excellence
The Type Directors Club also selected Playwrite for a Certificate of Typographic Excellence, sharing the spotlight with Emma Marichal’s expressive wood type-inspired design, Ploquine, which won in a separate category.
Veronika and José receiving the Yellow Pencil at D&AD Festival
Agyei Archer accepting Typetogether's European Design Best of Show Award.
Playwrite font at the TDC exhibition in New York.
A Gold Medal from Vienna: The Joseph Binder Award
Before this summer’s sweep, Playwrite had already achieved top honors. In April 2025, at the prestigious Joseph Binder Award in Vienna, the project received the Gold award in the type design category.
The international jury’s comment captured the essence of the project: Playwrite is a remarkable endeavour that unites diverse languages and cultures through innovative typographic solutions... The design exudes a fresh and funky vibe, capturing attention while remaining rooted in modernity... thoughtfully exploring how typography can be interpreted across different regions, showcasing a keen understanding of cultural nuances.
Senior designer Tom Grace, who accepted the award, noted that the event provided time to reflect on ˝the magnitude of the work we had done — behind the research project, beyond its creation, and past its publication.˝
Primarium’s Early Recognition (2024)
The current success of Playwrite is built on the groundbreaking research of the Primarium project. This ongoing, multi-year study examines how handwriting is taught in over 40 countries, documenting calligraphic models, methodologies, and cultural nuances.
Even before the 2025 awards, Primarium itself was earning international acclaim. In June 2024, the project received:
- Gold at the European Design Awards (ED-Awards) for the excellence and depth of its information.
- Gold (Digital Design for Social Change) and Silver (Website Design) at the Indigo Awards, sharing the latter honour with collaborators Elena Ramirez and Octavio Pardo of Ashler Design.
These early awards validated the project’s core mission: to create positive social impact through the study and design of written language.
A Shared Victory
These awards are a celebration of collaboration. TypeTogether extends its deepest gratitude to the juries of the D&AD, ED-Awards, TDC, Joseph Binder Award, and Indigo Awards.
Most importantly, we thank our essential partners who made the Primarium research and Playwrite font family possible: Google, Adobe, UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul), and Sensei Lab. We also thank all the educators, institutions, and governments across more than 40 countries who contributed their local handwriting models and expertise.
More than a collection of trophies, this recognition affirms that thoughtful, research-driven design can address real-world challenges—preserving the art of handwriting while equipping the next generation with better tools for learning. Visit the Primarium Project to explore the research, and download Playwrite for free from Google Fonts today.
