University of Georgia Press to host AAUP Book, Jacket and Journal Show April 8-10

The University of Georgia Press will exhibit the Association of American University Presses 2014 Book, Jacket, and Journal Show April 8-10 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. in the press’s offices on the third floor of UGA’s main library.

The show features the best of university press design. Since September, it has traveled across the country, starting with Kent State University Press, Oxford University Press and Princeton University Press. The show will end at the University Press of Florida in May.

Each year, a panel selects the best books from a variety of categories, including scholarly typographic, scholarly illustrated, trade typographic, trade illustrated, and jackets and covers. This year, the committee received 263 books, 330 jacket and cover design entries, and four journals from which to judge. The four jurors, composed of designing professionals and AAUP members, selected 39 books, 22 jackets and covers and one journal as the best examples of university press design. At the UGA show, visitors can vote for their favorite designs and the chance to win a book from the press.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect when I was invited to judge the AAUP book design competition,” said jackets and covers co-juror Emmet Byrne, design director at the Walker Art Center. “But once I was knee-deep in the stack of ‘real’ scholarly publishing, I found myself enthralled with work that expertly straddled the line between pragmatic and seductive, beautiful object made more beautiful by the fact that they were intended to be dog-eared, highlighted, photocopied and scribbled on. The books that we’ve selected for this competition aren’t books that are merely good looking, but books that want to be read.”

UGA Press received recognition in the scholarly typographic category for The Larder: Food Studies Methods from the American South and Red, White and Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life. Thieves I’ve Known was selected for the trade typographic category. 

“Did we understand what the book was about? Did the cover have the right mood? Was it well-executed? Was it aesthetically pleasing? And as always with university press designs, was the concept there? There are many things to keep in mind while looking at university press designs, such as less-than-perfect imagery provided, production constraints and heavy subject matter, but overriding all of these things is the fact that good design is good design,” said jackets and covers co-juror Kathleen Lynch of Black Kat Design. “I feel good about our choices: our winners stood out to us for their clear messages, well-thought-out designs, and beautiful executions.”

Individuals or large groups who are unable to come during the show times can contact Kaelin Broaddus, kaelinb (at) uga.edu, to schedule an appointment for times during the week of April 6.