Praise for books from the Netherlands
February 24, 2012
This year's judging for Best Book Design from all over the World in Leipzig resulted in triple praise for books belonging to the Best Dutch Book Designs 2011.
The book Utilité by Ellen Korth, in which forty devotees of fine needlework are being presented, was awarded a silver medal.
There was a bronze medal for What we Wear, the graduation project of Pieter van den Boogert at the Hague academy, tracking the globe-covering itinerary of our clothes.
An honorable mention went to Gomorrah Girl, a documentary of Italian photographer Valerio Spada on the fate of a Neapolitan girl.
Speaking about graphic design, the first and the last book are of the same hand, that of -SYB- (brand name for designer Sybren Kuiper from the Hague).
Best Book Design from all over the World is the most important international beauty contest for the book, Stiftung Buchkunst, keeper of the German Most Beautiful Books contest, being it's organiser. www.stiftung-buchkunst.de
An international jury of seven saw 540 entries from 31 countries, all national Best Book Designs selections. Save for the first prize, the Golden Letter, there are 1 gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze medals to be had – and 5 honourable mentions. The award ceremony will take place on March 16 at the Leipzig Book Fair.
The Best Dutch Book Designs 2011
February 17, 2012
The Best Dutch Book Designs selection of 2011 consists of thirty books, all released last year.
This selection was put together by a jury whose members are Jan de Boer (Studio Jan de Boer, Amsterdam), Frederike Huygen (design historian, Amsterdam), Fokko Tamminga (printers ANDO, The Hague) and Astrid Vorstermans (Valiz, books and cultural projects, Amsterdam). In all they judged 338 submitted books.
In the autumn the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam will exhibit the Best Dutch Book Designs 2011. Simultaneously the catalogue The Best Dutch Book Designs 2011 De Best Verzorgde Boeken will be out. Later there will be more exhibitions, in the Netherlands as well as abroad.
The Best Dutch Book Designs 2011 are also the Dutch entry to Best Book Design from all over the World, the international beauty contest for the book, held annually in Leipzig. The results of this competition are expected by February 24.
The Best Dutch Book Designs 2011 are generously supported by paper suppliers Antalis (Almere), collective rights organisation BNO/Pictoright (Amsterdam) and L. van Heek Textiles (Losser), manufacturer of book binding materials.
For a look at The Best Dutch Book Designs 2011, you only need to press the button The Best Dutch Book Designs.
Exhibitions The Best Dutch Book Designs 2010
February 16, 2012
The Best Dutch Book Designs 2010 are still on show at:
> Amstelveen, printers Lenoirschuring, from mid-January 2012 onwards
The Best Dutch Book Designs 2010 were previously on show at:
> Leipzig, Leipzig Book Fair, 17-20 March
> Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, 11 June-17 July
> Zwijndrecht, de Bibliotheek A tot Z, 1 July-13 August, exhibition in collaboration with local booksellers Edel, Plantage Scheurwater and De Salon
> Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt Book Fair, as part of Buchkunst International, 12-16 October
> The Hague, Museum Meermanno | Huis van het Boek, 1 November 2011 until 5 February 2012
> Amsterdam, Pakhuis De Zwijger, Papier Hier, 19 November
> Vienna, Neue Hauptbücherei, 7 December 2011 until 4 February 2012
> Tokio, Toppan Printing Museum, 12 November until 19 February 2012
The Best Dutch Book Designs 2011: entries welcome
December 5, 2011
The days are getting shorter, the year is approaching its ending. That means it's time to enter books for the Best Dutch Book Designs 2011. For the 53rd time a jury of five book professionals will be putting together a choice collection of 30-33 books from the Netherlands, that saw the light during 2011.
Publishers, commissioners, designers and printers, all of them are entitled to enter books that they value worthy of the jury's attention. We would be glad to receive two copies of these books along with a completed entry form by wednesday 4 January 2012. The entry form is to be completed online. You get there by clicking the buttons The Best Dutch Book Designs and Registration. The entry fee has been the same now for many years: € 50 for each entry, plus VAT.
Similarly, the selection of the Dutch jury will be the Dutch entry in the Best Book Design from all over the World competition in Leipzig. We expect to disclose the Best Dutch Book Designs 2011 on 17 February 2012.
Later in the year there will be the Best Dutch Book Designs 2011 exhibition at the refurbished and expanded Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. The catalogue The Best Dutch Book Designs 2011 De Best Verzorgde Boeken will be out, and more shows will be added to the programme, in the Netherlands as well as abroad.
As in previous years, this new round of judging has been made possible by loyal support from paper suppliers Antalis, Almere, BNO/Pictoright, Amsterdam, and L. van Heek Textiles, Losser.
A new round, that means new chances!
Book design awards worldwide
October 23, 2011
The Korean quarterly Graphic dedicated it's autumn issue completely to book design awards. The awards in France, Korea, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Wallony & Brussels are presented in interviews with award organisers and jury members. The same goes for Leipzig's Best Book Design from all over the World.
The second part of this 200 page volume contains the books that were selected in all these awards. To each book are added it's own judges report and often a note from the designer. These books are arranged in alphabetical order, which paints a picture of the awarded book as such. Thus the first part of this issue is all about national differences, the second part about global parallels. Lots of images. Text in Korean and English. www.graphicmag.kr.
The Best Dutch Book Designs 2010 at the Stedelijk Museum
June 16, 2011
From June 11 onward The Best Dutch Book Designs 2010 are on show at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, as part of The Temporary Stedelijk 2. The exhibition will last until July 17.
On show are the 33 Best Dutch Book Designs of 2010. They were picked out of 376 submissions by a jury of five professional specialists. These were the designers Vanessa van Dam and Jan de Boer, publisher Erna Staal, printer Fokko Tamminga and Ada Lopes Cardozo, senior teacher at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. The exhibition was designed by Paul Kuipers and Herman Verkerk of EventArchitectuur.
Together with the opening the catalog The Best Dutch Book Designs 2010 De Best Verzorgde Boeken was released. This 420 page book was made possible by generous support from paper suppliers Antalis and Arctic Paper Benelux, along with a number of companies in the Dutch graphic industry. The book was designed by Niels Schrader (Minddesign). Price € 27,50. ISBN 978 90 5965 144 9.
Exhibitions The Best Dutch Book Designs 2009
May 13, 2011
Right at this moment The Best Dutch Book Designs 2009 are still to be seen at:
> Printers Lenoirschuring, Amstelveen.
Previously they have been on show at:
> Leipzig Book Fair (18-21 March 2010)
> Frankfurt Book Fair (6-10 October 2010)
> Amsterdam, The Temporary Stedelijk at the Stedelijk Museum, 16 October 2010 until 9 January 2011
> Tokyo, Toppan Printing Museum, 23 October 2010 until 23 January 2011
> The Hague, Museum Meermanno | Huis van het Boek,
2 November 2010 until 13 February 2011
> Amsterdam, Pakhuis de Zwijger (Grafisch Papier Hier),
20 November 2010
> Wenen, Neue Hauptbücherei, 3 December 2010 until
12 February 2011
> Rotterdam, Printers De Maasstad, 6-22 December 2010
> Rotterdam, Booksellers v/h Van Gennep, January 2011
> Ljubljana, International Centre of Graphic Arts, 19 April until 6 May 2011
A farewell to Marten Jongema
April 10, 2011
On April 7 Marten Jongema, curator of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam died. For six years he has been our partner in realizing the Best Dutch Book Designs exhibitions at the museum.
Initially Marten Jongema and the Best Dutch Book Designs had to grow accustomed to each other. But this being accomplished, we found ourselves in a collaboration that was profitable to both parties.
The Best Dutch Book Designs exhibition, each year presented slightly differently by EventArchitectuur designers: thanks to Marten Jongema. Each year a bonus added to the exhibition, giving a deeper insight into a certain book category: thanks to Marten Jongema. A more casual touch to the exhibition opening and the handing of the awards: thanks to Marten Jongema.
Marten was a multi-talented man. He was accomplished in visual matters but he was simultaneously a good reader. Being a designer of posters and book jackets, the design side of books held no secrets for him.
Last year he visited us to leaf through the Best Dutch Book Designs of 2009. With unfailing eye he drew one book out of the pile. It was Still Wild, a modest volume with work of photographer Sarah Engelhard, a series of photos of animals killed by automobiles. It was not the curator Marten Jongema who followed his fascination by picking out this book, it was the designer.
He will not be forgotten.
Congo is Best Book Cover 2011
March 3, 2011
Booksellers chose Congo by David Van Reybrouck as Best
Book Cover 2011. The cover was designed by Studio Jan de Boer for publishers De Bezige Bij. Featuring a strong portrait photograph by Stephan Vanfleteren, it was a bookseller's favourite. This is a nice addition to the success of Congo, a book that previouly won various awards for its contents.
Beside the winning design for Congo the jury of booksellers had nominated another of Studio Jan de Boer's cover designs: Staal (by Silvia Avallone, also published by De Bezige Bij). In previous years the effective covers of Jan de Boer had already taken nominations for the election of the Best Book Cover every once in a while. But young designer Leentje van Wirdum (Achter de stilte by Beate Teresa Hanika, for publishers Lemniscaat) was right on De Boer's heels. Her design ended second place, only two votes short for taking the first. The other nominations followed these two on a clear distance, each with roughly the same number of votes.
Studio Jan de Boer of Amsterdam, celebrating its 25th birthday last year, is one of the leading specialists in book design in the Netherlands. Publishers De Bezige Bij, Podium, Ambo|Anthos, A.W. Bruna and Nijgh & Van Ditmar are among its many clients.
For the winning designer there was a goblet, and for the winning publisher a silver challenge cup. These were handed over during a festive gathering at the Special Collections library of the University of Amsterdam.
The election of the Best Book Cover is an initiative of book trade magazine Boekblad and Stichting De Best Verzorgde Boeken. For this tenth election a jury of five booksellers nominated twelve covers of titles released in 2010. Between February 17 and 28 everyone working in a Dutch bookshop had the opportunity to vote at Boekblad's website for their favourite book cover. Some 200 booksellers went to the ballot.