We are pleased to announce the start of accepting applications for the ninth Best Book Design Contest. Books that were published from December 2023 to November 2024 inclusive and were not previously submitted to the Contest are eligible. We are accepting your applications until November 28, participation in the Contest is free of charge.
Winners will be selected in the following categories:
- Word book (books in which the textual part dominates; poetry, prose, fiction, non-fiction);
- Art book (books about art, albums, photo books, catalogs);
- Utilitarian book (books mostly of an applied nature, non-fiction, popular science books, scientific, educational literature, guidebooks, cookbooks, specialized periodicals, etc.);
- Visual storytelling (books of any genre, in which the story is told with the help of visual means, including children’s books, comics);
- Experiment (self-published books, photo books, art books and limited editions, zines, etc.).
Jury members of the Best Book Design — 2024 Contest:
• Valeriia Guievska, Art Director of the Mystetskyi Arsenal;
• Zakentiy Horobyov, graphic designer, typographer, illustrator;
• Anna Ivanenko, Studio Seri/graph;
• Dasha Podoltseva, graphic designer, visual artist;
• Anatoly Popel, founder and CEO of CASES and Creative Practice;
• Kuba Sowiński, graphic designer, lecturer (Poland);
• Olena Staranchuk, co-curator of Pictoric.
Among the books submitted to the Contest, a short list of finalists will be selected (15 books, 3 books in each of the Contest categories), from which the jury will select the winners in each category (5 winners). Among the winners in the 5 categories, the main winner—the Grand Prix of the Contest—will be selected.
Over the years of its existence the Best Book Design Contest has already acquired history, traditions and heroes. But it also changes, improves and develops every year, just like book design itself. The award to the winners today is honorary national distinction, accordingly increased attention of the professional and bibliophile community and the media, an additional marketing tool for book promotion, a sign of due respect for the professionals who create cool books in Ukraine, despite all the obstacles and difficulties of our time. But it is also an opportunity to promote the best examples of Ukrainian book art abroad, to consolidate the presence of Ukrainian books on the world map of the best book design
—Yuliia Kozlovets, the Director of the International Book Arsenal Festival.
Last year’s book design contest opened up new horizons: the winners got the opportunity to visit the German National Library and creative design studios in Leipzig. Our partnership in the field of book design continues growing qualitatively, and we are sure that we have a lot to give each other. We hope that this year’s book design scene will present even more bright events and inspiration for us to move forward together in this sphere
—Marietta Sander, the Director of the Goethe-Institut Library Ukraine.
Before submitting an application to the Contest, please read Regulations.
We are accepting applications until November 28, 2024 inclusive. It is important that the book has been published between December 2023 and November 2024. Please, send physical copies of books by post or courier to the address of the Mystetsky Arsenal office:
Public Enterprise “National Art and Culture Museum Complex “Mystetskyi Arsenal”, 10-12 Lavrska St., Kyiv, 01010. Contact person for delivery—Maryna Askurava, +380667438737.
The Best Book Design Contest was launched by the Mystetskyi Arsenal in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Ukraine during the International Book Arsenal Festival in 2016. The winners of this year’s contest will be announced in early December 2024 on the website and social media of the International Book Arsenal Festival.
The finalists of the contest will represent Ukrainian book design in the international competition organized by the German Buchkunst Foundation; the winning books will also be exhibited at the international book fairs in Leipzig and Frankfurt. The author who has contributed the most to the Grand Prix-winning book will be invited to a professional trip to Germany in 2025.
The Contest is held by the International Book Arsenal Festival in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Ukraine.
The project partners are the Frankfurter Buchmesse and the Buchkunst Foundation.
The media partners of the Best Book Design — 2024 Contest are CASES
and The Village Ukraine.
The address for questions and clarifications (indicate НКД/BBD in the subject line of the letter)—[email protected].