About 50 Books/50 Covers competition

Late-entry deadline: March 26

• Categories
• Eligibility
• Submission requirements
• Fees
• Notification
• Enter 50/50 now

AIGA’s suite of competitions is widely recognized as the most discerning statement on design excellence today, extending a legacy that began more than 90 years ago. By means of the competitions, AIGA creates an authoritative chronicle of outstanding design solutions, each demonstrating the process of designing, the role of the designer and the value of design.

This time-honored competition aims to identify the 50 best-designed books and book covers that have been designed, produced and used in the marketplace between January 1 and December 31, 2009, as chosen by distinguished jurors. As such, they become part of the AIGA Design Archives, a searchable visual database of exemplary design, they are exhibited at the AIGA National Design Center in New York and offered as a traveling exhibition for display across the country. The physical artifacts comprise the AIGA Design Archives at the Denver Art Museum. A second set of the awarded books and covers becomes part of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection at the Butler Library, Columbia University, New York.

Follow five easy steps to enter your work

1. Select a channel according to what your entry actually is—a book or a cover.
2. Select a category.
3. Upload a JPEG of your entry.
4. Submit payment and print forms.
5. Send the actual works and forms to AIGA.

Categories

Jurors for this competition will evaluate each work’s integrated design approach, including concept, innovation and visual elements such as typography, illustration and/or information design. If you prefer a piece to be judged solely on the strength of any one of these elements, please submit it to the appropriate category in “365: AIGA Annual Design Competitions” (separate entry fees and submission requirements apply).

Each entry must fit one of the categories listed below. (If you’re unsure, select the category that most closely describes your entry.) Judges retain the right to reclassify entries from one category to another or to select only components of the submission for honors.

Literature and nonfiction (books you read)

Text-driven books including fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Image-driven books (books you look at)

Architecture, design and photography titles.

Limited-edition and fine-press books (books that are objects)

Collectors’ editions, fine editions and books whose quality of production, innovation or experimentation is of paramount importance. Limited-edition books must be numbered.

Instructional books and textbooks (books that teach)

How-to books, cookbooks, craft and hobby books, and books used for instruction in schools-from elementary and high school texts to college, technical, and vocational titles.

Reference books (books you consult)

Encyclopedias, atlases, dictionaries and guides.

Children’s books

Books published primarily for young audiences, not including textbooks.

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Eligibility

• A book must consist of at least 48 pages (except for children’s books).
• A book must be either case-bound or paperbound between covers. Portfolios of loose pages do not qualify.
• Books and book covers designed and/or produced between January 1 and December 31 of the previous year are eligible.
• Except in the case of limited-edition books, print runs should be in excess of 250 copies.
• Entries should be for sale to the general public, or, if offered gratis, should not be publications whose primary purpose is to advertise or serve as an annual report or other corporate literature.
• Following AIGA’s membership in Icograda (International Council of Graphic Design Associations) and in keeping with a deepening commitment to demonstrating the importance of diversity, entries from all countries will be eligible for AIGA competitions for the first time in AIGA’s history. In order for the jury to understand the content and context, entries that are in languages other than English must include a brief English translation.
• Submit only actual work; no photographs accepted. We regret that entries cannot be returned.

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Submission requirements

Entries must be accompanied by:

• A packing list (automatically generated and printable from the competitions website)
• Two separate, fully completed entry forms for each entry (automatically generated and printable from the competitions website)
• If submitting a trimmed front cover, a brief description of the contents of the book.
• Payment receipt or offline payment form and check or money order, in U.S. funds. Make checks payable to “AIGA Competitions.” Any brokerage and custom fees on foreign entries must be prepaid. AIGA will reject entries that are sent collect.

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Fees

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Notification

Selected entries

Notification letters will be sent by the end of June. The list of the jury’s selections will be posted on the AIGA website by the beginning of July.

If you are notified that the jurors have selected your entry, we will require four additional copies of it. These copies are archived at the Denver Art Museum and displayed in the AIGA’s New York exhibition and subsequent traveling shows. We regret that additional copies of the entries cannot be returned. Please refrain from submitting an entry if you will be unable to send us four additional copies of it if selected.

Production fees

There is a production fee of $40 for members, $60 for nonmembers, per selected entry, payable after notification of selection. This fee offsets part of AIGA’s production costs for inclusion of your work in the AIGA Design Archives.

Permission to reproduce work

By submitting work to the competitions, the entrant acknowledges the right of AIGA to use accepted work for reproduction in competitions-related publications; on its website; in the ensuing exhibition of the competitions’ selections; and for educational and AIGA-related promotional purposes.

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Still have questions?

Please contact Gabriela Mirensky, director of competitions and exhibitions, 212 710 3143.