Designs on Excellence !"#"$ %&#'(% takes measure of the love that bred and continues to foster the Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. “"#$% #$& '(() le* out of this article is the “It is about understanding the materials you are work- story of all the struggles, disagreements and ing with and the way they function in the world.” colour of this competition over the years.” So ended the brief history of the annual 56785 9:; 569<65 =: >9<?@ @>9<5 competition known today as the Alcuin Awards But, as Steeves points out, acquiring such for Excellence in Book Design in Canada in the understanding gets short shri* from publishers double number of Amphora issued for the Alcuin focused on margins and expenses (too o*en at Society’s +,th anniversary in -,,../ A decade the expense of the value that good design adds later, there is more colour0even the annual to books). catalogue of winners has shed the black and white To encourage0and reward0publishers of yore0and the disagreements and struggles who possessed such understanding, Peter have continued at one level or another. But so Quartermain suggested to his fellow board have the entries and the winners, and if reviews of members of the Alcuin Society that the Society such competitions are prone to reel o1 columns organize a competition to recognize “the best of numbers that testify to the work accomplished, designed trade book published in Canada in /A!,.” history remembers the accomplishments of the 2e suggestion came forward in June /A!/, se4ing winners who have distinguished themselves. a precedent for future competitions in terms of Of course, all such competitions are tilted in recognizing books published in the preceding favour of those who enter, but history is writ- year. 2e terms were tight: eligible books had to ten by the winners so far as their works enjoy be of no less than +. pages, published in an edi- the recognition and support of their peers. tion of at least .,,, and sold for no more than B-.. So it is with the Alcuin awards, which this A handful of entries were received; three cate- year recognized a small cohort of book designers gories were established, and the winners included from among the dozens at work in Canada. 2e number of publishers has dwindled through 8<75>: Glenn Goluska, designer of consolidation and collapse, but those that remain David McFadden, A Trip Around active continue to demonstrate their ability to Lake Huron (Coach House Press) adapt to shi*ing economic circumstances. “Twentieth century presses such as Nonesuch 87>6<@: Quadrant Editions, for Stephen and Penguin demonstrated how mechaniza- Scobie, McAlmon’s Chinese Opera tion could incorporate traditional design and (Quadrant Editions) production values to produce inexpensive books of distinction,” writes Andrew Steeves in his 8=C67<=9?: Frank Newfeld, designer of recent essay collection, Smoke Proofs: Essays Judy 2ompson Ross et al., Down to Earth: on Literary Publishing, Printing & Typography Canadian Po!ers at Work (Nelson Canada) (Gaspereau Press, -,/+), itself a winner of an Alcuin award this year even as it a3rms, Close readers will recognize two of the names as and urges, investments by publishers in the later winners of the Robert R. Reid Award and activities that make such awards possible. Medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Book Arts “Publishing is all about paying a4ention in in Canada, instituted by the Society in -,,D, the same way that reading is all about paying as much a testimony to the calibre of entries that a4ention,” Steeves writes a few pages earlier. year as to the kind of designer likely to take part. ! Readers familiar with the annual competition will also note that "!#" was $% years ago, and yet &'"( marked the $$rd round of the event. A good idea, once proven, is always subject to change, and so it was with the nascent Alcuin awards. )e many twists and turns (“struggles, disagreements”) in the early evolution of the awards are charted elsewhere, but the course of love*in this case, of good design*never did run smooth. Ge+ing the right people in place, and the second “annual” awards on track, took two years, and not until "!#% were publishers asked to submit their best-designed books of (we might as well say it) the early "!#'s. A total of "", books from "!#", "!#& and "!#$ were received, the winners selected, and awards duly made. A third competition along the lines of the competition known today occurred in "!#(, and the awards themselves were beginning to garner the recognition that boosted their prestige in the publishing industry. By "!#-, exhibitions of the winning books began to take place; categories were expanded and criteria loosened to accom- modate the full range of books being published in $BOBEBBUUIF-FJQ[JH#PPL'BJSJO.BSDIDzǰǰǷ Canada. What had started out as a simple compe- (Astrid H. Holzamer photo) tition became one re.ecting the diversity of the book design work performed in Canada, from small, private presses to large corporate entities. )at same year, the presentation of awards also occurred in Toronto, initially at the /012345/06 /0732047/8049 2308:0 Design Exchange gallery but now, o;en, at Today, the Alcuin Awards for Excellence in the Arts & Le+ers Club. Award winners were Book Design in Canada enjoy international also exhibited at "$ venues across Canada. recognition. )e past decade has seen the )e growing stature of the awards a+racted competition come into its own. One might the notice of the governor general, who as the well say that it turned &", and stepped onto Society’s patron, began supplying a statement for the national and global stage as a respectable the annual awards catalogue in &''-, a tradition adult. A bilingual catalogue of the winning that continues to the present. books was produced in &'',, and that same year In &''#, the award winners were displayed Friederike O+nad of the Sti;ung Buchkunst in in Munich and Tokyo, further increasing Frankfurt, Germany, invited the Alcuin Society awareness of the awards, book design in to participate in exhibitions at the two major Canada, and of course the books themselves. international book fairs, in Frankfurt and Leipzig. )e number of exhibition venues also )e Sti;ung organizes both the book fairs and continued to increase, rising to && in &'"%, and* the international book design competition held for the =rst time*in every province. While annually in Leipzig in February. As of &'',, the number of venues this year will drop to "!, winning books as selected by the Alcuin Society the presentation of the books and the interest have been shown as the o<cial Canadian “best shown in them remains beyond the wildest designed books of the year” there, and have imaginings of the competition’s early organizers. been Canada’s entrants in the competition. )e competition remains the only national ! competition of its kind in Canada, and it has Today’s rising stars are all women5Jessica become one of the Society’s chief initiatives. Sullivan, Naomi MacDougall and Robin Mitchell-Cran6eld5who together have #$%& %&$'&% $() '*%*(+ %&$'% 3" citations between them (a remark- When the history of the competition was able 44 of them belong to Sullivan). reviewed in ,""-, Leah Gordon and Jim So, design excellence is still to be found. If Rainer pointed out that some designers were the economic hardships publishers have faced consistent winners; indeed, the outsider might in recent years have had any e.ect, it’s in fewer even wonder if anyone else made an e.ort. Yet designers taking home the honours. A decade ago, the judges for the competition have always seven designers claimed approximately a 6/h of changed, and as was noted a decade ago, the all citations in the competition’s history; today, consistency with which some designers won just 6ve do. But excellence of practice remains awards despite the change in judges “is a widespread, as a glance at the scores of names testament to the calibre of the designers’ work.” through the years reveals. Mitchell-Cran6eld put Some of those designers are older now; it best in a ,""7 interview with Amphora: “I think others are dead. Designers who were young someone could have a design career in which then have o/en borne out their early promise. they’re just aiming to do really good, solid work Still others have emerged even faster than their as opposed to sort of standing at the forefront.”, predecessors. With an eye to the numbers, With fewer books being entered in the competi- seven designers had won ,! percent of the tion (just over ,"" this year, down from a peak awards through ,""-, with “some relative of ,-,), fewer designers have their work judged. newcomers . o. to fast starts” (Peter Cocking and Andrew Steeves among them). $ 89::;8&*9( 9# ;<8;::;(8; A decade later, the fast starts of Cocking and And what of the books themselves? Many Steeves have vaulted them to the head of the have won awards abroad, thanks to the standings, with 12 and 13 awards, respectively. Society’s participation in the Frankfurt Book Yet design veteran Gordon Robertson, who Fair. Since ,""3, they have been shortlisted led in ,""- with 44 awards (he hasn’t placed for awards almost every year and have won since) and Tim Inkster (who has) are tied medals twice. =is is a notable achievement; in third place, with 44 citations apiece. there are o/en well over -"" international Le!: Alan Browno" & Glenn Goluska judging UIFDzǵUI"OOVBM"MDVJO4PDJFUZ"XBSETGPS Excellence in Book Design in Canada. #PĪPN7JTJUPSTSFWJFXUIFFOUSJFTBUUIFDzǵUI Annual Book Design Awards Gala. (Jason Vanderhill photos) !" Naomi MacDougall (centre) discusses a book with $PWFSPGUIFDzǰǰǹ"XBSETGPS&YDFMMFODFJO#PPL William Rueter (le") and Marvin Harder (right) Design catalogue, designed by Markus Fahrner.