Happy Birthday to .Design!

Oh, they grow up so fast!

It’s been an exciting few years working to get .design domains out to the public, and today marks the second year since .design entered general availability. In its brief two years, .design has grown to +63,000 registrations. We’ve come a long way from our first steps (and first registrations), with amazing and innovative use cases, including corporate design hubs, creative studios, portfolio websites, and passion projects of all kinds. As .design begins its “terrible twos,” Top Level Design hopes to see continued healthy growth and expansion into new markets.

Let’s take a look at a few of the .design milestones we’re celebrating:

.ink Approved by MIIT of China

On February 6th, Top Level Design’s .ink received the official approval by China’s MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology). It is also the 6th new gTLD in the Latin alphabet approved for sale in mainland China.

.ink is in the 3rd batch of new gTLDs to get China’s approval. It’s also the only one in English in this batch. The other four are all Chinese IDNs.

The Chinese government requires all TLDs to be certified by MIIT. Being approved means that Chinese residents can register and host .ink names in mainland China.

Since the launch of .ink, a hype for the TLD has been spreading all over the Chinese domain market. Chinese domain buyers recognize and appreciate the connection between .ink and Chinese history of calligraphy and literature. It’s easy to memorize and also been interpreted as an abbreviation for ‘Internet King’.

As of February 14th, 2017, 25,728 .ink domains are registered worldwide, 74% of which are managed by Chinese registrars. With the MIIT certification, we are excited to see more tractions for .ink domains in China.

Additional info.:

Where to buy .ink

Examples of live .ink websites

.design Passes 10,000 Registrations

This past week .design officially passed the 10k registration mark. General availability opened up a month ago and yet .design has already overcome a milestone that only 15% of other new gTLDs have reached.

The enthusiastic and powerful response to .design confirms our belief that people are ready for a TLD that speaks to them on a personal and professional level. Our registrants are graphic & web designers, interior and fashions designers, as well as architects and bloggers. They deserve a big thanks for leading .design to such a successful launch. We can’t wait to see what comes next.