"The designers featured in this [show and] catalog took risks, and the results were sublime."
The Association of University Presses (AUPresses) announced its 2019 Book, Jacket, and Journal Show with a new website devoted to this year’s selections. The sixty-five outstanding examples of university press publications are currently on virtual display at https://design.up.hcommons.org/. The University of Texas Press was recognized with eight selections, with one book selected in two categories. The winners are:
Scholarly Illustrated: São Paulo: A Graphic Biography by Felipe Correa , designed by Neil Donnelly and Ben Fehrman-Lee
Trade Typographic: Night Moves by Jessica Hopper, designed by Amanda Weiss; The Book of Merlyn: The Conclusion to The Once and Future King by T. H. White, designed by Derek George, cover designed by Kimberly Glyder
Trade Illustrated: Dawoud Bey Seeing Deeply by Dawoud Bey, designed by Derek George; The Street Philosophy of Garry Winogrand by Geoff Dyer, designed by Erin Mayes / EmDash Design
Book Jackets and Covers: Beyoncé in Formation: Remixing Black Feminism by Omise’eke Tinsley, designed by Amanda Weiss; Controlling Desires: Sexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome (Revised Edition) by Kirk Ormand, designed by Amanda Weiss; The Book of Merlyn: The Conclusion to The Once and Future King by T. H. White, designed by Kimberly Glyder
These exemplary books will debut in a hands-on display during the AUPresses annual meeting June 11-13 in Detroit, with an accompanying printed catalog. Members of the 2019 Show jury will also be present to discuss their selections and the field of publication design in general. Since 1965, this show has honored the university publishing community’s design and production professionals. It recognizes meritorious achievement in design, production, and manufacture of books, jackets, covers, and journals, and also serves as a focus of discussion and a source of ideas for intelligent, creative, and resourceful bookmaking.
Open to AUPresses member publishers worldwide, this year’s competition attracted more than six hundred submissions, all published during 2018, in these categories:
• Scholarly typographic books / Scholarly illustrated books
• Trade typographic books / Trade illustrated books
• Poetry and literature books
• Journals
• Reference books
• Jackets and covers (of books and journals)
“Academic [book] covers need to go beyond being a decorative accessory, to serve as a window onto the possible explorations within,” observed juror Na Kim, a freelance illustrator and a senior designer at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. “Rich with information, they dare us to visualize the relationship between music and mathematics, for example, and to ponder the philosophical and cultural impacts of Beyoncé in the modern age. They succeed at the laborious task of tackling difficult topics with nuance and demand our attention through bold colors and typography. The designers featured in this [show and] catalog took risks, and the results were sublime.”
The show will enjoy a long life after its debut in Detroit: a traveling exhibit will be scheduled between September 2019 through June 2020.
AUPresses is an organization of 151 international nonprofit scholarly publishers. Since 1937, the Association of University Presses advances the essential role of a global community of publishers whose mission is to ensure academic excellence and cultivate knowledge. The Association holds integrity, diversity, stewardship, and intellectual freedom as core values. AUPresses members are active across many scholarly disciplines, including the humanities, arts, and sciences, publish significant regional and literary work, and are innovators in the world of digital publishing.
