Open Call
  Tone in Tongue

Radical Characters invites you to submit original work for Tone in Tongue. This exhibition will be exhibited concurrently at the Shanghai Printing Technology Research Institute (Shanghai, China), Otis College of Art and Design, and Maryland Institute College of Art in Fall 2025.

Deadline: February 28, 2025

– Type of work: graphic design and typography (bilingual, English and/or Chinese encouraged) 
– Image of artwork in black and white only (10 × 10 in., JPG, 300 dpi, grayscale). 
– No submission fee
– 3 submissions max per person

Exhibition Statement

Culture, like a shadow, shifts and transforms across the expanse of history. The Chinese idiom “如影随形” (as the shadow follows the form) captures this fluidity, describing an inseparable relationship where one phenomenon consistently accompanies another. This exhibition invokes this natural phenomenon as a lens through which to explore the deep cultural interconnectedness within East Asian design history, expressed through visual communication.  

TONE IN TONGUE, the exhibition title, suggests the layered and intrinsic connections within contemporary culture. The word “Tone” is inspired by the Chinese character “同” (tóng), which signifies “similar, together, or in common.” Building on this concept, the exhibition invites designers to explore both the shared ground and distinct nuances within East Asian visual communication. The character “同” is composed of two elements: 凡 (meaning “all” or “shared”) and 口 (meaning “mouth” or “gateway”), symbolizing “a shared language.” This concept shapes the exhibition’s central inquiry: what does it mean to share a “common language” in contemporary design? How might designers find resonance and solidarity as they engage with pressing cultural and social issues? As the metaphor of the exhibition’s three-language title suggests—“as the shadow follows the voice”—this exhibition offers a space for dialogue, rooted in our shared ground.

TONE IN TONGUE is the second curatorial project initiated by Radical Characters, a platform dedicated to exploring speculative connections between design and cultures within and beyond the Chinese and Chinese-American communities. This exhibition seeks to expand dialogues on shared cultural motifs and speculative identities within a decentralized design context.

The call for submission invites designers to respond to Xu Xuecheng’s (one of the first type designers in China) type archive. Accepted submissions will be presented as a 10 × 10 in. printed, grayscale poster. 

We are sharing the Xu Xuecheng (徐学成) archive collected by Shanghai Type as a research starting point. You can find the archive on the Shanghai Type website. Take a few minutes to click through and study the materials under links #1 书籍 (Publications) and #3 字体 (Typography).The website is in Chinese, so we suggest using a translator to read the texts. Xu Xuecheng was one of the first Chinese type designers who thought of typography in an innovative way because his typography work viewed type as image and form, energetic, and dynamic. He focused on the labor, intention, and gesture behind his hand-drawn sketches. 

How can we similarly approach typography and Hanzi based on Xu Xuecheng’s methodology? Feel free to use the archive visually, conceptually or thematically to frame your response to the theme of the Chinese character “同” and the title of the exhibition Tone in Tongue.

Submission Instructions

Fill out the submission form and upload your submission(s). If you do not have access to the form, email radicalcharacters@gmail.com, and we will reach out for your information.

Submision form here

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us! Your contribution is important to us and our community. We hope to have the opportunity to work with you. If you’re not selected for this exhibition, please keep in touch. We will have events and opportunities to collaborate in the future.

—The Radical Characters Team