AIGA Announces 50 Books | 50 Covers Competition Jurors

Renowned competition recognizes and showcases excellence in book design from around the world

New York, NY—AIGA, the professional association for design, is excited to announce a distinguished jury of design professionals for the annual AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers competition.

Since its inception in 1923 as the Fifty Books of the Year competition, this annual event highlights AIGA’s continued commitment to uplifting powerful and compelling design in a familiar format we know and love. As book jackets became more prevalent, the competition evolved with the field to acknowledge excellence in cover design. Beginning in 1995, the competition became known as 50 Books | 50 Covers. 

AIGA understands the timeless, magnetic power of design to engage readers and encourage them to turn the page. That is why the AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers competition continues to recognize the best of book and book cover design from around the world. 

The jurors for the AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2022 competition are:

Andrew Satake Blauvelt (Chair), Director, Cranbrook Art Museum
Andrew Satake Blauvelt is a designer, curator, historian, critic, and educator whose practice spans the fields of art and culture. Since 2015, he has served as Director of Cranbrook Art Museum in metropolitan Detroit leading the institution’s transformation into a vibrant and diverse cultural destination and community partner. Having studied and practiced graphic design, Blauvelt has expanded his practice to also include authoring historical research; curating major exhibitions on art, architecture, and design; editorial design for both print and online publishing; conceiving and managing strategic design initiatives; and writing theory and criticism about the field. Prior to Cranbrook, Blauvelt served in a variety of curatorial and administrative roles at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis for 17 years, including as Design Director of its innovative design studio and as Chief of Audience Engagement and Communications overseeing pioneering experiments in community and civic engagement. In 2009, the Walker was the recipient of a National Design Award for Institutional and Corporate Achievement, the first museum and non-profit organization to receive the honor previously bestowed on such companies as Target, Nike, and Apple. And in 2022, Blauvelt was recognized by AIGA with the AIGA Medal for his vast work in the field of art and design in service of the public.

Rob Giampietro, Creative Director
Rob Giampietro is an independent Creative Director in New York. Until 2023, he worked at Google, where he co-founded Insight＋Innovation, an multidisciplinary design team focused on long-term research for Google’s consumer ecosystem of products. Previous teams at Google included Material Design, Google AI/RMI, and Search & Assistant UX. Key projects included the first SPAN Design & Technology global conferences, an overhaul of the Google Fonts directory, and a Google-branded customization of Material Design system components. From 2018–2020, Rob was Director of Design at MoMA, re-imagining a holistic design system and visitor experience with in-house and agency creative teams across environmental, digital, and retail channels in support of the museum’s historic 2019 reopening. He has taught at RISD’s MFA Graphic Design program, served as VP of AIGA/NY, and worked as Advisor to the Aspen Ideas Festival. A graduate of Yale, Rob’s work has received recognition from MacDowell, the American Academy in Rome, and the National Design Awards for his work at Project Projects.

Renata Graw, Founder, Normal
Renata Graw is the founder and lead designer at Normal, a design studio in Chicago. Graw founded Normal with the belief that thoughtfully designed experiences can have a profound impact on how we interpret the world. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she received her BFA from the Pontifícia Universidade Catolica in Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RIO) and her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

Ramon Tejada, Designer and Assistant Professor, Graphic Design Department, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
Ramon Tejada (EDR) is a DominicanYork (of Dominican-America, Afro-Caribbean, and Latinx descent) designer and educator based in Providence, Rhode Island, and occasionally in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, California*. He works in a hybrid design/teaching practice focusing on collaboration, inclusion, unearthing, and the responsible expansion of design, a practice he has named “puncturing.” His design practice focuses on elevating BIPOC voices. Ramon is an Assistant Professor in the Graphic Design Department at RISD. 

Xiaoqing Wang, Art Director, Green Dragon Office
Xiaoqing Wang is the Art Director at Green Dragon Office, where over the last 15 years, she and Lorraine Wild have collaborated on the design of nearly 70 publications as well as identity and exhibition designs for numerous cultural institutions. Past and current collaborators include Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Rice Architecture, Claremont McKenna College, Art Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Marian Goodman Gallery, among others. Their work has been recognized by AIGA, Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award for Museum Scholarship, and STA 100. Xiaoqing holds an MFA from CalArts in graphic design and teaches typography at Otis College of Art and Design.

“Despite the challenges facing the publishing industry, book design itself has been flourishing. As the 50 Books | 50 Covers competition approaches its centennial anniversary, the competition remains an important barometer for the field—gauging both the inventiveness and responsiveness of designers,” said Andrew Satake Blauvelt, AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers, Chair.

Eligible entries for the 2022 competition were open to books published and used in the marketplace in 2022. Entries for 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2022 opened in December 2022 with a final entry deadline of February 15, 2023.

Learn more about the AIGA 50 Books | 50 Cover competition.