50 Books | 50 Covers
This time-honored competition identifies the 50 best-designed books and book covers of the year. Together, we celebrate powerful and compelling book design and the community‘s most inspired creations.
Regular Deadline: February 1, 2023
In the News
Call for Entries! AIGA Announces Annual Design Competitions for Work Produced in Calendar Year 2022
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Call for Entries
Add your creations to the stacks.
The AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers competition recognizes the best of book and book cover design from around the world.
Enter NowJurors
We are pleased to announce Andrew Satake Blauvelt, Director of Cranbrook Art Museum, will serve as the chair of this year's competition! Watch this space, the panel of jurors will be announced in February.
About AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers
This survey of book design represents perhaps the longest-standing legacy in American graphic design. Beginning in 1923, the Fifty Books of the Year competition was a yearly mainstay of AIGA. As dust jackets became more common, covers were added to the competition. AIGA is delighted to usher in another year of amazing book and cover design.
Even in an era of digital books and Insta stories, AIGA understands the timeless, magnetic power of design to engage readers and encourage them to turn the page. That is why the AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers competition continues to recognize the best of book and book cover design from around the world. Selections from past competitions have been added to the AIGA Design Archives—one of the richest online resources available to those who practice, study, and appreciate great design—as well as the physical archives at the Denver Art Museum (1980–2012) and at the RBML at Columbia University's Butler Library in New York City. From 2012–2018 Design Observer hosted the competition with AIGA through a joint venture and winners can be seen on Design Observer (2011–2017). Recent winner galleries include: 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2018, 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2019, 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2020, and this year's 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2021.
Competition Details
The call for entries open December 8, 2022. All deadlines are at 11:59 p.m. ET.
|
Entry Fees |
Early Discount Deadline: |
Regular Deadline: |
Final Deadline: |
|
AIGA Members |
$70 |
$95 |
$145 |
|
Nonmembers |
$105 |
$130 |
$180 |
If work is selected by the jurors, an email notification will be sent to entrants of winning work in May/June 2023.
Juror selections will be published in a collection on the competition website and shared across AIGA channels. Physical copies will be housed at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University's Butler Library (RBML) for future generations to enjoy.
Recognition includes:
- Showcase in the online Winners Gallery;
- Official press release distributed to leading industry outlets and media providers;
- Official digital assets, including competition logo for winners to self-promote;
- Coverage on AIGA social media channels;
- Coverage in AIGA newsletters.
Visit contact information and FAQs. Office hours for support are 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. ET (Monday-Friday).
There are three deadlines and member discounts to create multiple pathways for participation while also covering the costs of producing a competition at this scale, including admin, marketing and communications, platform fees, designer fees, and more. By entering early you save more and help us prepare for the judging phase.
AIGA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to advance design as a professional craft, strategic advantage, and vital cultural force. As the largest contemporary membership association for design, AIGA connects and builds community through awards, advocacy, education, research, writing, and resources for every career stage. All entry fees support AIGA’s programs and move our mission forward.
The exciting part about opening any new book for the first time is the power it has to influence your relationship to typography or images—by its placement, position or scale on a single page.
Kelly Walters
50 Books | 50 Covers of 2020 Juror
![[field.undefined]](jpg/kelly_walters0928.jpg?itok=piQMR_hG "Kelly Walters")
Books are intimate. Books are affordable art. They are vessels for information. They become time capsules of human stories. To me, beautifully designed and manufactured books are invaluable objects, and I hold them close to my heart.
Kimberly Varella, Content Object
50 Books | 50 Covers of 2021 Juror
![[field.undefined]](jpg/kimberly-varella-sq-12003a41.jpg?itok=ZvaQRTtf "Kimberly Varella, Content Object")
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Call for Entries Cycle
Call for Entries Open
December 8, 2022
Call for Entries Close
February 15, 2023
Earliest Notification
May 2023 (subject to change)
Earliest Announcement
June 2023 (subject to change)
Resources
- How are jurors selected?
Learn More
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Winners Gallery
50 Books | 50 Covers of 2021
“Overall, the thoughtful consideration of material, typography, and image across themes of inspiring culture and social transformations through books and their design brought light into the dark of 2022.” —Silas Munro, Polymode
Explore the GalleryGreat book design is the conceptual structure that captures and illuminates the editorial content of the author.
Jennifer Morla
50 Books | 50 Covers of 2020 Juror
![[field.undefined]](jpg/morla-portrait_standard-web_aiga5050_2020_1000x10001dee.jpg?itok=JARUb1qv "Jennifer Morla")
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