AIGA’s 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2021 Design Competition is Open

Call for Entries: best in book and book cover design

New York, NY—Now in its 98th year, AIGA is delighted to usher in its annual 50 Books | 50 Covers competition, which recognizes the best in book and book cover design. 

Starting in 1923 as the Fifty Books of the Year competition, it quickly became a much-lauded event. Today, even in an era of digital books and Insta stories, “the physical book remains stubbornly, thrillingly relevant,” in a statement made by Michael Bierut, Chair of AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2019. AIGA appreciates the timeless, magnetic power of design to encourage readers to turn the page and communicate difficult literary themes in accessible visuals. That is why each year—especially now—Gail Anderson, Chair of AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2020 says, “We celebrate the best of the best designs that drew us into the written pages.” 

This time-honored competition aims to identify the 50 best-designed books and book covers published between January and December. This year's panel of jurors for 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2021 will be announced in January 2022. Entries are open to anyone for print and digital books published and used in the marketplace in 2021. The juror-selections from the 50 Books | 50 Covers competition will exemplify the best current work in book and book cover design. Winners will become part of the AIGA Collection at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University’s Butler Library in New York City and published in a gallery on AIGA’s website.

“The exciting part about opening any new book for the first time is the power it has to influence your relationship to typography or images—by its placement, position, or scale on a single page.”—Kelly Walters, AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2020 Juror

“Great book design is the conceptual structure that captures and illuminates the editorial content of the author.”—Jennifer Morla, AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2020 Juror

New this year, AIGA is offering an early discount deadline for entries completed before December 30, 2021.

Call for entries and how to enter.

Deadlines and entry fees per book:
Early deadline is December 30, 2021, entry fee is $70 for AIGA Members and $100 for non-members.
Regular deadline is February 3, 2022, entry fee is $85 for AIGA Members and $115 for non-members.
Final deadline is February 15, 2022, entry fee is $110 for AIGA Members and $140 for non-members.