PubWest Announces 2023 Book Design Award Winners

Maricopa, AZ – PubWest, the leading association of small and medium-sized book publishers, has announced the winners of the 2023 PubWest Book Design Awards competition. The PubWest Book Design Awards recognize superior design and outstanding production quality of books in 16 categories, as well as an overall Judges’ Choice Award. The Design Awards winners were judged on typography, jacket and cover design, interior design, format, selection of materials used, and printing and binding production quality.

The winner of this year’s Judges’ Choice Award is The Unfortunate Life of Worms, a beautifully designed book from Tra Publishing. The judges said, “All 'round excellence on cover, endpapers, layout, typography and ribbon. Although the judges were at first non-plussed “WHO is this for?” We realized it was for the discerning gift-giver. Whimsical and wry, the book made all who picked it up smile at the audacity and love that it represents.”

Winners were recognized at a reception at the 2024 PubWest Conference in Maricopa on Thursday evening. And the winners are:

ADULT TRADE BOOK – ILLUSTRATED

GOLD: The League of Lady Poisoners, published by Chronicle Books, Designer: Kayla Ferriera, Production Manager: Barbara Genetin, Printer: C&C Offset Printing Co

SILVER: KAOS Theory, published by Angel City Press, Designer: ELLA, Production Manager: Paddy Calistro, Printer: Friesens

BRONZE: The Unfortunate Life of Worms, published by Tra Publishing, Designer: Jefferson Quintana, Production Manager: Chris Hemesath, Printer: Shenzhen Reliance Printers

PHOTOGRAPHY / ART / DESIGN

GOLD: Alfredo Boulton: Looking at Venezuela, 1928-1978, published by Getty Research Institute, Designer: Kurt Hauser, Production Coordinator - Michelle Woo Deemer, Printer: Artron

SILVER: María Magdalena Campos-Pons: Behold, published by J. Paul Getty Museum, Designer: Morcos Keys, Production Coordinator - Michelle Woo Deemer, Printer: Artron

BRONZE: The Art of Ruth E. Carter, published by Chronicle Books, Designer: Allison Weiner, Production Manager: Erin Thacker, Printer: Midas Printing Int'l

BRONZE: Yaron Michael Hakim: Psittaciformes, published by Grand Central Art Center, Designer: Stephen Serattor for ELLA w/ Gabrielle Pulgar, Production Manager: John D. Spiak, Printer: Permanent Printing

HOW-TO/CRAFTS BOOK

GOLD: The Artist's Drawing Book, published by Blue Star Press, Designer: Tyler Fisher, Production Manager: Clare Whitehead, Printer: Nomos Impresores

SILVER: Royal Icing Cookies, published by C&T Publishing, Designer: April Mostek, Production Manager: Tim Manibusan, Printer: WKT Printing

BRONZE: Quilt Out Loud, published by C&T Publishing, Designer: April Mostek, Production Manager: Tim Manibusan, Printer: Midas Printing

BRONZE: Watercolor Workbook 2, published by Blue Star Press, Designer: Megan Kesting, Production Manager: Clare Whitehead, Printer: RR Donnelley

COOKBOOK

GOLD: Good Soup, published by Tra Publishing, Designer: Jefferson Quintana, Production Manager: Chris Hemesath, Printer: Shenzhen Reliance Printers

BRONZE: The Vegetarian Reset, published by The Collective Book Studio, Designer: Liliana Guia, Production Manager: Chris Hemesath, Printer: Reliance Printing Shenzhen

BRONZE: Veg-table, published by Chronicle Books, Designer: Lizzie Vaughan, Production Manager: Tera Killip, Printer: Midas Printing Int'l

HEALTH & WELLNESS

GOLD: Cycles, published by Shambhala, Designer: Amy Sly, Production Manager: Karissa Kloss, Printer: 1010 Printing Asia

BRONZE: Beyond Widow, published by McDorobush & Associates, Creative direction, concept, and design: Maria Mayer Feng for Studio Maria Mayer Feng, Printer: Edition One Books

BRONZE: Chaos to Calm, published by The Collective Book Studio, Designer: AJ Hansen, Production Manager: Chris Hemesath, Printer: Reliance Printing Shenzhen

ADULT TRADE BOOK—NON-ILLUSTRATED

GOLD: A Forest Journey, published by Patagonia, Designer: Christina Speed, Production Manager: Sonia Moore, Printer: Friesens

SILVER: A Fire Runs through All Things, published by Shambhala, Designer: Daniel Urban-Brown, Production Manager: Karissa Kloss, Printer: John P Pow Company (cover) & Data Reproductions (interior)

SILVER: Rim to River, published by University of Arizona Press, Designer/Production Manager: Leigh McDonald, Printer: Sheridan

BRONZE: Echo Loba, Loba Echo, published by Rocky Mountain Books, Designer: Lara Minja, Production Manager: Don Gorman, Printer: Friesens

ACADEMIC / REFERENCE

GOLD: Woven from the Center, published by University of Arizona Press, Designers: Sara Lilly Thaxton (interior), and Leigh McDonald (cover), Production Manager: Sara Lilly Thaxton, Printer: Shenzhen Reliance Printing

SILVER: Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Odyssey, published by DoppelHouse Press, Designer: Tauras Stalnionis, Production Manager: Carrie Paterson, Printer: ARTRON

BRONZE: The Utah Adventure, published by Gibbs Smith Education, Designer: Bret Hanson, Production Managers: Michelle DeVries, J. Vehar, Bart King, Anna-Morgan Leonards, Ben Spencer

BRONZE: When Language Broke Open, published by University of Arizona Press, Designer/Production Manager: Leigh McDonald, Printer: IBI (Books International)

SHORT STORIES/POETRY/ANTHOLOGIES

SILVER: The Soul Conveys Itself in Shadow, published by Stenen Press, Designer: Virginia Chow, Production Manager: Laura Dolp, Printer: Shapco

BRONZE: Morning Leaves, published by The Collective Book Studio, Designer: AJ Hansen, Production Manager: Chris Hemesath, Printer: Reliance Printing Shenzhen

GIFT/HOLIDAY/SPECIALTY BOOK

GOLD: Friday Night Cocktails, published by The Collective Book Studio, Designer: AJ Hansen, Production Manager: Chris Hemesath, Printer: Reliance Printing Shenzhen

SILVER: Universal Monsters Tarot Deck and Guidebook, published by Insight Editions, Designer: Ashley Quackenbush, Production Manager: Deena Hashem, Printer: Ningbo General Union Co.

KIDS – SPECIAL FORMAT

GOLD: The Eyes & the Impossible, published by McSweeney's, Designer: Dave Eggers, Production Manager: Justin Carder, Printer: 1010 Printing

SILVER: North Pole Village, published by Chronicle Books, Designer: Sandy Frank, Production Manager: Akiko Neumann, Printer: Hung Hing Offset Printing

BRONZE: What a Pest, published by The Collective Book Studio, Designer: Elliot Kreloff, Production Manager: Chris Hemesath, Printer: Reliance Printing Shenzhen

CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK

GOLD: A River of Dust, published by Chronicle Books, Designer: Jennifer Tolo Pierce, Production Manager: Ashley Newell Despain, Printer: Midas Printing Int'l

SILVER: Gray Fox in the Moonlight, published by The Collective Book Studio, Designer: AJ Hansen, Production Manager: Chris Hemesath, Printer: Reliance Printing Shenzhen

BRONZE: You Stole My Name, published by Blue Star Press, Designer: Idea to Inks, Production Manager: Clare Whitehead, Printer: Dream Colour

CHILDREN’S MIDDLE GRADE

GOLD: The Eyes & the Impossible, published by McSweeney's, Designer: Dave Eggers, Production Manager: Justin Carder, Printer: 1010 Printing

SILVER: Be a Nature Explorer, published by Greystone Books, Designer: Belle Wuthrich, Production Manager: Sydney Marchand, Printer: Shenzhen Reliance Printing

LIMITED / DELUXE EDITION

GOLD: Shadows of Love, Shadows of Loneliness, published by Rare Bird, Designer: Jaya Nicely, Production Manager: Robert Schlofferman, Printer: Artron

ADULT SIDELINES / NOVELTY

GOLD: The Beatles Collector’s Advent Calendar, published by Insight Editions, Designer: Paul Montague, Production Manager: Tracey Hinchliffe, Printer: Wave Creations

COVER – LARGE FORMAT

GOLD: KAOS Theory, published by Angel City Press, Designer: ELLA, Production Manager: Paddy Calistro, Printer: Friesens

SILVER: A Modern Guide to Human Design, published by Gibbs Smith Publishing, Designer: Amy Sly/The Sly Studio, Production Manager: Michelle Bayuk, Printer: Crash Paper/Elegance Printing

BRONZE: Herbert Bayer's World Geo-Graphic Atlas and Information Design at Midcentury, published by RIT Press, Designer: Marnie Soom, Production Manager: Laura Heise, Printer: Printing Partners

COVER – SMALL FORMAT

GOLD: The Eyes & the Impossible, published by McSweeney's, Designer: Dave Eggers, Production Manager: Justin Carder, Printer: 1010 Printing

SILVER: The Broken Hummingbird, published by She Writes Press, Designer: Julie Metz, Production Manager: Lauren Wise, Printer: Versa

SILVER: Muster Points, published by University of Calgary Press, Designer: Melina Cusano, Production Manager: Helen Hajnoczky, Printer: Marquis

BRONZE: Morning Leaves, published by The Collective Book Studio, Designer: AJ Hansen, Production Manager: Chris Hemesath, Printer: Reliance Printing Shenzhen Company

About PubWest: PubWest is a nonprofit trade association for North American book publishers—from small independent presses to publishing companies with worldwide operations—and related professionals, such as printers, designers, binderies, and publishing freelancers. For more information, please visit www.pubwest.org.

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Contact: Michele Cobb, Executive Director, PubWest

executivedirector@pubwest.org