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Tag: awards

Published January 18, 2023

ABCD X

Founded by designers Jon Gray and Jamie Keenan, the Academy of British Cover Design (ABCD) held its first book cover design competition in 2014. To celebrate its tenth awards ceremony this year (where does the time go?), the Academy has decided to allow regular folks to vote for a ‘Winner of All Winners’ from the last nine years – ABCD X.

Committed to making the awards to be as inclusive as possible, ABCD includes categories that frequently get overlooked by other competitions, and the work itself is judged by book cover designers themselves, so there is a diverse selection of winning cover to choose from including children’s books, science fiction and fantasy, series design and non-fiction.

Entries to this year’s regular competition, ABCD’23, are also now open.

The winners of both ABCD X and ABCD’23 with be announced at an awards ceremony on the 23 March.

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Published April 19, 2019

ABCD Award Winners 2019

The winners of the 2019 Academy of British Cover Design (ABCD) Awards were announced earlier this month and, as in previous years, the winners are an eclectic mix of styles. It is always interesting to see the covers that the designers themselves vote for. Only a couple of the winning designs have been featured here before. 

Young Adult


Run, Riot by Nikesh Shukla; design by Michelle Brackenborough (Hodder Children’s Books / June 2018)

Sci-fi/Fantasy


Folk by Zoe Gilbert; design by David Mann (Bloomsbury / July 2018)

Non-fiction


Money by Laura Whateley; design by Jack Smyth (Fourth Estate / October 2018)

Series Design

Miriam Toews; design Jonathan Pelham (Faber & Faber / September 2018)

Classics/Reissue


Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier; design by Hannah Wood; embroidery by Hand & Lock (Virago / February 2018)

Children’s 0-5


Helping Hen by Claudia Ripol and Yeonju Yang; design and illustration by Claudia Ripol and Yeonju Yang (Owl and Dog  Books / November 2018)

Children’s 6-12


The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Rauf; design by Thy Bui; illustration by Pippa Curnick  (Orion Children’s Books / July 2018)

Literary Fiction


Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata; design by Luke Bird (Portobello Books / July 2018)

Crime/Thriller


That Old Black Magic by Cathi Unsworth; design by Leo Nickolls (Serpents Tail / March 2018)

Mass Market


When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri; design by Sinem Erkas (Piaktus Books / June 2018)

You can find my previous posts on the ABCD Award winners here: 2018; 2017; 2016; 2015 and 2014.

And while we’re on the subject of awards, the Australian Book Design Association have announced the shortlist for this year’s awards.

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Published September 19, 2018

50 Books / 50 Covers Winners 2017

I am a little late on this, but AIGA and Design Observer recently announced the winners of 50 Books | 50 Covers for 2017. This year’s jury consisted of Rodrigo Corral, Carin Goldberg, Maricris Herrera, and Jessica Helfand. The 50 books are here; the 50 covers here.

My 2017 covers list, which has, admittedly, something of a different scope, can be found here.

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Published March 20, 2018

ABCD Award Winners 2018

I am unfashionably late to the party here, but the winners of the 2018 Academy of British Cover Design (ABCD) Awards were announced last week. 

The ABCD Awards are always pleasantly surprising. Every year the shortlists include at least two or three covers I have never seen before, and I find it strangely reassuring that the winners picked on the night are not always the covers I would’ve chosen — somehow that makes it feel more democratic. 

The awards have a brand new website (designed by Joseph Bisat Marshall) where you can find this year’s shortlists and archive of the previous awards, but you will find all the winning covers from last week below… 

Young Adult

Surrender by Sonya Hartnett; design by Jack Noel; illustration by Jeffrey Alan Love (Walker Books / May 2017)

Sci-fi/Fantasy

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood; design by Suzanne Dean; illustration by Noma Bar (Vintage / October 2017)

Non-fiction

Riot Days by Maria Alyokhina; design by Tom Etherington (Allen Lane / October 2017)

Series Design

Pan 70th Anniversary collection; design Justine Anweiler and Stuart Wilson (Pan / September 2017)

Classics/Reissue


The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; design David Pearson (Pluto Press / January 2017)

Children’s 0-5

 

Jill and Lion by Lesley Barnes; design and illustration by Lesley Barnes (Tate Publishing / March 2017)

Children’s 6-12

Think and Make Like an Artist by Claudia Boldt and Eleanor Meredith; design by Shaz Madani; illustrations by Jay Daniel Wright and Ola Niepsuj (Thames & Hudson / May 2017)

Literary Fiction

The Blot by Jonathan Lethem; design by Gray318 (Jonathan Cape / February 2017)

Crime/Thriller

Dark Pines by Will Dean; design by Mark Swan (Oneworld / January 2018)

Mass Market

The Invisible LIfe of Euridice Gusmao by Martha Batalha; design by Sinem Erkas (Oneworld / September 2017)

You can find my previous posts on the ABCD Award winners here: 2017; 2016; 2015 and 2014.

 

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Published July 20, 2017

50 Books / 50 Covers Winners 2016

The Bed Moved by Rebecca Schiff; design by Janet Hansen (Knopf / April 2016)

AIGA and Design Observer announced the results of the 2016 50 Books | 50 Covers competition while I was on vacation. You can find all the book selections here, and the cover selections here.

I always look forward 50 Books | 50 Covers announcement. It feels like the industry standard. It’s the cover design list that really seems to matter to book designers in North America, and it’s the one I always compare my own list to.

There are always great covers among the winners that are new to me, and this year is no exception. But here are a few random observations about this year’s the cover selections: there a lot of typographic/type-only covers; academic publishers are well represented; there are some surprising omissions (although the jury can only judge what is submitted); a couple of the selections are… well, a little problematic; it is a very male list.

I’m interested to hear what other people thought of this year’s winners.  

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Published June 28, 2017

ABDA Awards Interview

I talked to the Australian Book Design Association about book cover design and judging this year’s ABDA Awards:

I think we’re seeing a more global approach to covers as a result of publishers deciding to hold on to the international rights for their books, and designers and publishers (not to mention authors and readers!) being more exposed to covers from other markets through the internet and international travel. But it is still surprising how different covers from different countries can be. The contrast between British and American covers can still be quite striking.

In Canada, where I live, we are geographically very close to the US, and we get books from both the US and the UK, so domestic covers tend to be a bit of a hybrid, with a handful of designers and publishers trying to do something unique. I get the sense that the situation in Australia is similar, although there may be more willingness to experiment with covers than in Canadian publishing, which can be quite conservative when it comes to book design.

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Published May 29, 2017

Australian Book Design Awards Winners 2017

Anonymous Designer

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2017 Australian Book Design Awards, which were announced on Friday in Sydney. I was honoured to be the international judge this year (even if some of my favourite covers didn’t win!).  

Allison Colpoys

Design by Sandy Cull
Design by Mary Callahan
Design by Darren Holt

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Published April 13, 2017

Australian Book Design Awards 2017 Shortlist

The Australian Book Design Association just announced their Shortlist (PDF) for the 65th Australian Book Design Awards. Happily (if somewhat implausibly), I was asked to be the international judge this year (you can read about the other, imminently more qualified judges, here).

As a sample of what you can expect from the shortlist, here are the covers in the Nonfiction category: 

 

Design by Mary Callahan

Design W. H. Chong

Design by Allison Colpoys

Design Jenny Grigg

The winners of the awards will be announced on Friday 26 May at the Awards Party in Sydney. Tickets go on sale Thursday 20 April.

 

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Published March 3, 2017

ABCD Award Winners 2017

The winners of the annual Academy of British Cover Design (ABCD) Awards were announced at a glittering ceremony London in last night. The dashing Danny Arter has a posted a full report on the proceedings at The Bookseller. You can see all the winning covers below… 

Young Adult

The Memory Book by Lara Avery; design by Sinem Erkas (Quercus / January 2017)

Sci-fi/Fantasy

Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente; design & illustration by Nathan Burton (Corsair / August 2016)

Non-fiction

The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman; design by Jack Smyth (Little, Brown / April 2016)

Series Design

Vintage Virginia Woolf; design by Suzanne Dean; illustration by Aino-Maija Metsola (Vintage / October 2016)

Classics/Reissue

The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier; design Jamie Keenan (Virago / October 2016)

Children’s

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne & illustrated by Oliver Jeffers; design by Dominica Clements; illustration by Oliver Jeffers (Doubleday / October 2016)

Women’s Fiction

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler; design by Kris Potter (Hogarth / June 2016)

Literary Fiction

The Start of Something by Stuart Dybek; design Suzanne Dean; cover art by Marion de Man (Jonathan Cape / November 2016) 

Crime/Thriller

Maestra by L.S. Hilton; design by Blacksheep (Zaffre Publishing / March 2016)

Mass Market

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman; design by Jack Smyth (Little, Brown / May 2016)

All of this year’s shortlisted covers can be found on the ABCD website. Last year’s winning covers can be seen here; the 2015 winners here. 

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Published September 13, 2016

Promotional Stickers for Novels

promotional-stickers-for-novels-tom-gauld

Tom Gauld‘s latest cartoon for The Guardian. It seems kind of appropriate for the day this year’s Man Booker Prize shortlist is announced…

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Published July 1, 2016

Penguin Random House Design Award Winners 2016

ailsa johnson front
Ailsa Johnson (Children’s Prize winner)

ailsa johnson full cover

I’m a little bit late to this, but Penguin Random House UK recently announced the winners of their annual Design Award. The award, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, offers art and designs students first-hand experience real book cover design briefs. The winner of each of the three categories — Adult Fiction, Adult Non-fiction and Children’s — receives a work placement at PRH, as well as a £1,000 cash prize. This year’s winners were Ailsa Johnson (Children’s), Zack Crook (Adult Fiction) and Zachary Wieland.

 

front Zack Crook
Zack Crook (Adult Fiction Prize winner)

Hi Res Full cover design Without Crops Zack Crook

Zachary Wieland FrontCover
Zachary Wieland (Adult Non-Fiction Prize winner)

Zachary Wieland FullCover

Save

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Published June 23, 2016

50 Books / 50 Covers Winners 2015

A Manual for Cleaning Women design Justine Anweiler
design Justine Anweiler

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s 50 Books | 50 Covers competition organized by Design Observer in association with AIGA. All fifty winning books can be found here; the winning covers here.

Act of God design Janet Hansen
Drinking in America design Rex Bonomelli
Barbara the Slut by Lauren Holmes; design by Rachel Willey (Riverhead / August 2015)

ball design by Kelly Winton
design Kelly Winton

One Day in the Life of the English Language design Chris Ferrante
The Woman Who Read Too Much design Anne Jordan & Mitch Goldstein
Voices in the Night by Steven Millhauser; design by Janet Hansen (Knopf / April 2015)

oreo design Erik Carter
design Erik Carter

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