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Wednesday, October 01, 2008

AIGA's 50 Books/50 Covers

It's that time of year again: AIGA's 50 Books/50 Covers show is up in New York, and their selections have been posted in their Design Archives. (It's a Flash site, so you'll have to do some extra clicking: start with the green "View the 365" square.)

The covers below (by Canadian design firm Paprika) are among my favorites, but maybe that's because I'm inordinately fond of collage. Go look at all of them and get inspired.





(I had to add this old collage that I did at some point last year; fun to know I'm not the only one who likes to collage with hands.)

9 comments:

Ian Koviak said...

The only reason these work so well is because they are a series.

Individually they are not that strong and look more like museum catalogs.

This years selection seems a bit bland. I only see a few covers that truly engage me and don't leave me hanging and longing for more. Some I am not really sure why they won. All in all, not a good year in book design. Or maybe the judges were not that great... Too much of the same old stuff being showcased every year. My 2 cents...

Joseph said...

Ian: you might be right about them playing better as a series than individually. But what a series! :-)

Ian Koviak said...

Yes. What a series. And Paprika's work is stellar across the board. Many a good thing come from Canada...

Anonymous said...

Very nice work. I believe the publisher has that circle and typeface for every one of their covers... it's almost as if all you can do is create the most interesting image possible.

David Drummond said...

Ian,

You are too hasty with your judgements."The only reason these work so well is because they are a series." I saw only one book of this series in a book store in Montreal and I walked across the store to pick it up. Each of them stands up on their own merits which is after all the sign of a great series.

The formats, unusual choice of colour and inventive use of collage really set these apart. The most incredible thing about Paprika is that they bring this same sensibility to all areas of design that they are involved in - what a studio!!

mand said...

Just found this blog via Adrian Graham. I love collage too, the weirder the better. This one of yours is great.

I'm too new to blogging to have got any of my pix up yet but plan to.

I generally agree, for what it's worth, with Ian Brian Shimkoviak's feeling - except with the Vladan Matijevic cover which is amazing in its own right.

I mean for what my agreement's worth, not Ian's opinion... ;0)

robby said...

Hi Joseph. I just wanted to give you a heads up that I linked to your post for an entry I wrote about Marianne Brandt's photocollages. If you have not seen her work yet, I heartily recommend it. It seems like something you would enjoy.

Ian Koviak said...

yeah, I think I said that David. Not sure if you read my comments before you made yours.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Joseph—
The AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers competitions deadline is upon us once again. Your readers can get more infp at http://www.aiga.org/competitions
Thanks in advance!