Type Drives Commerce
- Client:
- Type Directors Club
- Year:
- 2026
- Collaborators:
- Jolene Delisle (Conference Chair)
The Working Assembly
Fordham University
Speakers (see below)
Sponsors (see below) - Role:
- Concept
Programming
Co-creative direction
Campaign system
Experience - Skills:
- Creative Direction
Brand Architecture
Project Management
New Business Development
Client Relations - Concept & programming:
- Griffin McCabe
Jolene Delisle
Zipeng Zhu - Identity & campaign:
- Griffin McCabe with Jolene Delisle and The Working Assembly
A sold out, one day 18-speaker conference exploring how typography shapes commercial meaning and drives real-world impact.
Project
Designers, in-house creative leaders and brand decision-makers are being asked to navigate typography’s growing role in every sector, every country and every language.
Yet there was no standard source on fair pay or intellectual property, and no forum for open discussion.
The design community and creatively driven businesses needed a trusted brand with a storied name to provide one.
Type Drives Commerce, the TDC’s first in-person conference in six years, was built to be that forum: a one-of-a-kind day exploring where typography, business and commerce meet.
To stand out on a crowded conference circuit, it needed a lineup at the forefront of these conversations, with the awards, experience and draw to fill 300 seats at a premium ticket price, on a budget of zero.
The goal was one clear narrative that would convince senior leaders to buy in, learn, and share it from the top down.
Challenge
Operating under severe resource constraints:
- Balancing a diverse slate of speakers and topics that built toward one scaffolded theme
- A flexible visual system across print, digital and live
- A launch that stood out on a crowded conference circuit
- No upfront budget, and a two-person staff
- Create persuasive decks to pitch sponsors on a conference that existed only in theory, with no track record
- Create the case for sponsors to fund the vision before a single ticket sold
- Create speaker decks that convince each speaker to adopt the vision and apply it to a bespoke, conference-exclusive presentation
Role
Developed the concept and programmed the day with conference chair Jolene Delisle (Founder, The Working Assembly) and the full Working Assembly team, across program, campaign and experience.
- Researched competing conferences’ past themes, pricing, ticket bundles and speakers to tailor a program that was entirely singular
- Hand-picked speakers to cover the full business case for type: systems, licensing, studio economics, custom type and culture
- Directed the visual identity and branded digital and spatial collateral from concept to conference day
- Secured sponsorship and wrote the conference preview for PRINT, “Exploring the Intersection of Typography, Business, and Commerce”
- Programmed the conference slideshow in Keynote
Outcome
Sold out 300 seats and contributed 30% of TDC’s annual income. Sixteen sponsors, plus foundries, museums and speakers, invested in our vision, financing 100% of operating costs, with many speakers donating their time and effort to be involved.
The identity treats typeface as voice. Each face speaks for an era of commerce, and together they tell a 500-year story of type selling ideas. Co-created with Jolene Delisle and The Working Assembly across digital, print, and on-site. Tap or hover over a typeface to read more.
Primary type system
- Blue#5CC8FA
- Green#4AE698
- Red#FF5040
- Yellow#E7F133
- Black#000000
- Off-white#F3F4EF
Micrositeconference.tdc.org · desktop and iPhone. Scroll either screen yourself.
SocialOrganic posts, feed and story
typedirectors···
typedirectors Type Drives Commerce. March 13, 2026, Fordham University, Lincoln Center.
typedirectors2h
Pope TheatreFordham University, Lincoln Center. 300 seats, sold out.
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Front rows added for demand
300 seats
Signage & wayfindingStanding banners, 31.5 × 80 in
On the dayClick any photo to enlarge
Morning session
- Jolene DelisleThe Working AssemblyHow Type Drives Commerce: The Crossroads of Creativity and Commerce
- Charles NixMonotypeThe Typographic Ecosystem: The Hidden Systems Behind Typography’s Business Impact
- Jeremy MickelMCKL Type FoundrySmall Details for Big Brands: The Gap Between Design and Approval
- James EdmondsonOh No Type CompanySerious Irreverence: Building a Type Business Without Losing Your Weird
- PanelReal Talk About Type-Forward Design Work
- Audrie PooleSunday AfternoonReal Talk About Type-Forward Design Work: Balancing Client Needs with Creative Conviction
- Rich TuSunday AfternoonReal Talk About Type-Forward Design Work: Balancing Client Needs with Creative Conviction
- Tré SealsVocal TypeReal Talk About Type-Forward Design Work: Balancing Client Needs with Creative Conviction
Afternoon session
- Jessica HischeLettering ArtistCreativity in the Age of AI: A Point of View That No Algorithm Can Shortcut
- Brent David FreaneySpecial OfferOn Typographic Indecision: Keep It Simple, Sis.
- PanelThe Law of the Letter
- Gary FogelsonOther MeansThe Law of the Letter: The Rules of Type, and the Case for Reform
- Christine BateupFrere-Jones TypeThe Law of the Letter: The Rules of Type, and the Case for Reform
- Phil Carey-BergrenMonotypeThe Law of the Letter: The Rules of Type, and the Case for Reform
- Chris KnottStudio DramaThe Law of the Letter: The Rules of Type, and the Case for Reform
- Teddy BlanksChipsHow I Learned to Stop Worrying About Licensing and Draw My Own Type
- Min LewBase DesignMy Type of Business: How Custom Type Drives Brand Relevance and Cultural Authority
Hosted by Zipeng Zhu, Dazzle; Lauren Hom, Hom Sweet Hom; and Jolene Delisle, The Working Assembly.
Global type video series curated by John Kudos, Kudos Design Collaboratory.
Monotype
Klim
Frere-Jones Type
Poster House
The Type Founders
Designer Journals
PRINT
Type01
Production Type
XYZ Type
I Love Typography
Sharp Type
Schriftería
Arrow Type
300 seats sold. Production fully funded. 30% of TDC’s annual income generated in one day.