Dr. Zhao Liu is an Associate Professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing, working across type design, typography, visual communication, and cultural research. Her professional practice integrates academic research, design education, and applied design projects, with a strong commitment to connecting the historical knowledge of writing systems with contemporary typographic practice. Alongside her academic role, she serves as Art Director of Liu Zhao Studio and maintains a long-term collaboration with the international type design company TypeTogether, working with cultural institutions and industry partners on a range of projects.
Liu's research and design work primarily focus on multiscript typography and the modernization of Chinese typographic systems. She is particularly interested in historical and ethnic minority scripts, exploring how complex traditional writing systems can be transformed into functional, digital, and widely accessible contemporary design systems. Her work emphasizes translating scholarly research into practical tools, public communication, and culturally accessible outcomes. She led the design of Futura®100 Chinese, as well as Google's Noto typefaces for Khitan Small Script and Nüshu. She also contributed to the development of Noto Sans CJK and Noto Serif CJK and played a key role in the redesign and refinement of the Tangut typeface. In addition, she has collaborated with Unicode to advance the national and international standardization of Jianzi musical notation for the guqin, research that has resulted in two invention patents granted in China.
As principal investigator of multiple national-level research projects, Liu has been advancing Way of Type: Modernisation of Chinese Typography, a major research initiative and touring exhibition presented across China and internationally. She also served as a typography design consultant for the China Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka. Beyond design and research, Liu is actively engaged in publishing and education, having planned, translated, edited, or proofread numerous typography-related books. Through interdisciplinary and project-based teaching, she actively fosters new approaches that connect cultural heritage, technology, and contemporary visual communication.
