# Design Industry Celebrates Best in Books, Recognizing Volumes on Artists Wangechi Mutu, Shikeith, and Just Above Midtown
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED museum exhibitions of 2022 paid tribute to Just Above Midtown, the storied New York gallery space Linda Goode Bryant launched nearly half a century ago, providing a platform for Black artists when they were largely shut out of the city’s museums and white-owned galleries. “Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces” at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) garnered rave reviews from art critics. The New York Times called the show “exhilarating”.
The catalog documenting the exhibition elicited praise, too, winning over design critics. AIGA is celebrating excellence in book design. Last week, the professional association for design, announced the results of its annual 50 Books | 50 Covers competition, recognizing the best designed books and book covers of 2022. “Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces” made the cut.
Deeming the catalog among the top 50 Books of 2022, the judges said: “This is a beautifully made book. Incredible content. One can tell that a lot of consideration and care were taken on how the design was going to elevate the content and subject matter. Every choice in the book, from the typography to the color choices elevates and amplifies the stories being told.” Kimberly Varella designed the “Just Above Midtown” catalog.
The winners also include the first monographs of artists Shikeith and Matthew Angelo Harrison and the exhibition catalogs “Frédéric Bruly Bouabré: World Unbound,” published on the occasion of another recent MoMA show, and “Wangechi Mutu,” which accompanied the artist’s large-scale sculptural installation at Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, N.Y.
A century ago in 1923, AIGA launched a Fifty Books of the Year competition and in 1995 expanded it, introducing 50 Books | 50 Covers. This year, a five-judge panel reviewed 487 entries from 27 countries. (Candidates submitted their projects for consideration in the book category, cover category, or both, and paid an entry fee.) Judges evaluated a range of factors in determining the best from a design perspective, including concept, innovation, images and illustration, typography, and information design.
“The strongest covers really connected to the content of the book, while the book designs displayed a penchant for material choices that really emphasized the physicality or object quality of the book.” — Andrew Satake Blauvelt
“The jury and I were very impressed with both the quantity and quality of the entries this year, which made choosing only 50 extremely difficult. Having judged the competition before, I noticed a much greater diversity in the subject matter across all the categories, which was refreshing! This was apparent to me among the cookbooks for instance, which focused on diasporic cuisine or in the number of exhibition catalogs devoted to artists of color, for instance. The strongest covers really connected to the content of the book, while the book designs displayed a penchant for material choices that really emphasized the physicality or object quality of the book,” said Andrew Satake Blauvelt, director of Cranbrook Art Museum and chair of the 50 Books | 50 Covers jury.
“Among the trending techniques this year were use of exposed bindings and elaborate page sequencing and mixed paper choices. For me, there was a greater overall
Celebrating the Best in Books, Recognizing Volumes on Artists Wangechi Mutu, Shikeith, and Just Above Midtown
The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) recently announced the winners of its 50 Books | 50 Covers competition, celebrating the most exceptional book designs of the year. The AIGA jury reviewed hundreds of entries to select 50 outstanding book designs and 50 covers that stood out due to their sophistication and visual appeal.
Designers and design firms were recognized for their contributions to the winning volumes, providing details on the materials used, binding specifications, typefaces, and trim sizes. Some of the recognized books focused on visual art by or about Black artists, and a few were created by Black designers, garnering attention for their exceptional work.
Black designers such as Rush Jackson, Silas Munro, Kelly Walters, Renald Louissaint, and Diana Ejaita were acknowledged for their involvement in creating visually stunning and conceptually innovative books. Munro, in particular, authored and co-designed “Strikethrough: Typographic Messages of Protest” in partnership with his firm, Polymode.
The winning books are added to the AIGA collection at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University’s Butler Library in New York, ensuring their place in design history. Selected visual art books that were recognized by AIGA are featured below, along with comments made by the judges about their design.
An Alternative History of Photography
Design Firm/Agency: Mues Design, London, Book Designer: Melanie Mues, Published by Prestel Publishing, 256 pages, hardcover
Judges remarked, “The cover really telegraphs the content of this book, looking at the overlooked, charting the less traveled paths through photographic histories.”
Black Body Amnesia: Poems and Other Speech Acts
Design Firm/Agency: Omnivore Inc., Book Designers: Julie Cho, Alice Chung, and Karen Hsu, Published by Wendy’s Subway, Edition of 500, 236 pages, softcover
Judges described this book saying, “This book begs to be touched, read, and physically experienced—the materiality: the translucent pages, how the typography flows through the book—it is gorgeous poetry.”
“Frédéric Bruly Bouabré: World Unbound,” Edited by Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi. | Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 96 pages, hardcover
Frédéric Bruly Bouabré: World Unbound
50 BOOKS WINNER | Judges: “Exceptional show, unforgettable work, lovely catalogue—the design supports these very graphic pieces with empathy and engaged framing throughout. An already beloved addition to my own bookshelf.”
Book Designer: Amanda Washburn
“Chakaia Booker: The Observance,” by Alex Gartenfeld and Stephanie Seidel. | Published by ICA Miami and Hirmer Publishers, 192 pages, hardcover
Chakaia Booker: The Observance
50 BOOKS WINNER | Judges: “Stunning work, framed smartly with an economical, elegant design that brings another voice/reading to the work. Some very thoughtful and fresh choices on typeface, photo positioning, sequencing, and scale engage this artists’ work in dialogue with the book form.”
Design Firm/Agency: Studio Lin, Creative Director: Alex Lin, Book Designers: Alex Lin, Tobias Holzmann, and Benjamin Schwartz
“Wangechi Mutu,” Authored with Nora Lawrence and Aisha Tandiwe Bell. | Published by X Artists’ Books, 72 pages, hardcover
Wangechi Mutu
50 BOOKS WINNER | Judges: “A field guide. A perfect platform to experience Mutu’s work. It is a unique book.”
Design Firm/Agency: Omnivore, Inc., Book Designers: Julie Cho, Alice Chung, and Karen Hsu
“Olu & Greta,” Authored and Illustrated By Diana Ejaita. | Published by Rise × Penguin Workshop, 32 pages, hardcover
Olu & Greta
50 BOOKS WINNER | Judges: “I love the saying ‘books make friends.’ This is a book about friendship, and it’s made for the children who read it to imagine a more living, caring, friend-filled world. A total work and great addition to any child’s bookshelf.”
Creative Director: Daniel Moreton, Book Designer: Maria Elias, Illustrator: Diana Ejaita
“Matthew Angelo Harrison,” Edited by Natalie Bell and Elena Filipovic. | Published by MIT Press, 200 pages, hardcover
Matthew Angelo Harrison
50 BOOKS WINNER | Judges: “The LED typeface used was such a powerful, compelling interpretive gesture and reference. For me it was a simple, thoughtful addition that made the whole catalogue come to life in a new way.”
Design Firm/Agency: Practise, Creative Director: James Goggin, Book Designers: James Goggin, Shan James
“Abdias Nascimento: A Panamefrican Artist,” Edited by Adriano Pedrosa and Amanda Carneiro. | Published by MASP (The Museu de Arte de São Paulo), 312 pages, hardcover
Abdias Nascimento: a panamefrican artist
50 BOOKS WINNER | Judges: “This book is so beautiful. From beginning to end the entire structure elevates Nascimento’s work. The typography is so well done, again used to highlight the artist’s work. It is a gorgeous book and a great addition to any collection.”
Each of these books has been recognized for their excellence in the design industry. Here are some of the winners:
Shikeith: Notes Towards Becoming a Spill
This book was praised for its intentional material choice and typography movement, highlighting the human body as the subject matter.
Design Firm/Agency: Rush Jackson Studio, Creative Director: Lesley A. Martin, Book Designer: Rush Jackson
Stranger Fruit
The regal purple cloth cover and the gilded fore-edges of the book create a fittingly elegiac container for artist Jon Henry’s poignant portraits of Black mothers and their sons that evoke the Pietà.
Design Firm/Agency: Luminosity Lab, Book Designer: Caleb Cain Marcus, Photography: Jon Henry
Strikethrough: Typographic Messages of Protest
The simplicity of the book cover’s iconic gesture of resistance belies an entangled and complex history of protest graphics inside.
Design Firm/Agency: Polymode, Creative Directors: Brian Johnson and Silas Munro, Book Designers: Brian Johnson, Michelle Lamb, and Silas Munro
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“The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression & Reflection,” Edited by Anne H. Berry, Kareem Collie, Penina Acayo Laker, Lesley-Ann Noel, Jennifer Rittner, and Kelly Walters. | Published by Allworth, 600 pages, paperback
The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression & Reflection
50 BOOKS WINNER | Judges: “This is a typographically rich book. The typographic system is gorgeously set up to let the text and all the voices emerge.”
Creative Director: Kelly Walters, Book Designer and Illustrator: Renald Louissaint
“The Language of Beauty in African Art,” Edited by Constantine Petridis. | Published by Yale University Press/Art Institute of Chicago, 356 pages, hardcover
The Language of Beauty in African Art
50 BOOKS WINNER | Judges: “Great cover, and a skillful and original design throughout. There was almost something polyrhythmic about the mix of alignments. And the catalogue managed to take a very academic flavor of typography and bring a freshness to it, contrasting language and beauty (from the endlessly compelling images) in a very direct, energizing way.”
Design Firm/Agency: Studio Blue, Creative Director: Cheryl Towler Weese, Book Designers: Brad Sturm, Meredith Barone, Jacket/Cover Designers: Cheryl Towler Weese, Brad Sturm, and Meredith Barone
“What Matters Most: Photographs of Black Life: The Fade Resistance Collection,” Edited by Zun Lee and Sophie Hackett. | Published by DelMonico Books/Art Gallery of Ontario, 192 pages, hardcover
What Matters Most: Photographs of Black Life: The Fade Resistance Collection
50 COVERS WINNER | Judges: “The casual cluster of pictures and the embedding of the title into the visual space of the image is spot on: a cache of found Polaroids and prints from another era before digital photography that
“`The winners of the 50 Books | 50 Covers competition include a significant anthology, “The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression & Reflection.” Also recognized are “Olu & Greta,” a charming children’s book by Diana Ejaita, as well as books focused on photography and monographs of emerging artists. Additionally, several exhibition catalogs were featured. You can also explore a selection of the 50 Books | 50 Covers winners on Bookshop. If you enjoy and value Culture Type, consider supporting its ongoing production by making a donation.
