About the year 2008
The most beautiful Swiss books competition was established to promote and reward top-quality book design in Switzerland. In the spirit of effective design promotion, the award is invested with a number of measures that lend it extra weight. A catalogue of the prize-winning books is published, featuring the jury reviews and essays on current conditions in the practice of book design. In addition, two exhibitions are mounted annually at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich and at mudac Musée de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains in Lausanne, while the books are also presented in several smaller exhibitions abroad. Catalogue and exhibitions not only lend the award greater visibility, they also promote the exchange of ideas among designers, printers and publishers.
In 1998 the Federal Office of Culture took on the coordination of The most beautiful Swiss books competition, which had previously been organised by the Swiss Association of Booksellers and Publishers. Since then, the competition has undergone a reassessment of its strategy and content, factors which still apply today. The regulations stipulate that the jury must include representatives from three fields - design, production and publishing - while various institutions and associations with a vested interest in Swiss books do not delegate representatives. Since the professional and design expertise of the jury members has top priority, greater emphasis is therefore placed on the aspect of design. Taking into account globally changing conditions of production, the competition now allows for a more international outlook. Since 1998, my predecessor Mirjam Fischer had successfully established the reputation of the award well beyond the borders of Switzerland. I have been in charge of the competition since autumn 2008 and look forward to further consolidating the competition’s high reputation both at home and abroad.
The competition has in fact become a seismograph of current trends and tendencies in contemporary book design and production, while also looking back on a substantial and significant history. Two new members have joined the international jury chaired by Cornel Windlin: Lars Müller (publisher) and Piär Amrein (bookbinder and lecturer). Of the 395 titles submitted to the 2008 competition, 32 books were selected on the basis of idea and concept, graphic design, typography, quality of the printing and binding, use of materials, and overall impression. The jury reviews (see p.92) offer more background and provide reasons for their selection.
The theme of this year’s catalogue is the present, since it forms the second in the trilogy ‘Past/Present/Future', planned and designed by Laurenz Brunner and Tan Wälchli. By focusing on theoretical and practical aspects of book design, the publication is the outcome of a selection procedure concerned with questions of aesthetics and production. On the other hand, it also serves as a forum for debate on relevant and vital concerns in the wider field of book design. The catalogue is divided into three sections. The interview, conducted after the jury session, addresses issues crucial to this year’s competition. The essays elaborate on a number of these issues, such as the relationship between art and the relevance of that distinction within the framework of book design, changing conditions of production from print-on-demand publications to individually handmade books, the marketing of art books in an age of declining sales, and the role of the designer as author versus service provider. The third section of the catalogue contains the detailed jury reviews in words and pictures, providing not only a concise presentation of the jury’s verdict but also offering conceptual background from the designer's point of view as well as technical details of the award-winning books.
The issues raised by the catalogue will be further elaborated in the exhibitions at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich and mudac in Lausanne. Not only will the award-winning books be on display but, for the first time ever, all the other submissions as well - a total of 395 books. Florian Kräutli and Katharina Ludwig have developed the exhibition design, in which all the titles are presented in a kind of elliptic domino of books. The competition is thus choosing to ‘go public', inviting visitors to form their own opinions of the wide spectrum of submissions, to debate questions of quality and to explore the award-winning books within a wider context.
Several smaller exhibitions will be mounted abroad this year, in Paris, Berlin, London, Birmingham, Amsterdam, Brussels and Riga amongst others. Most of these presentations have been initiated by local professionals and institutions, including universities, cultural organisations, designers and printers. In this way, we are able to reach an interested audience of local and networked professionals, and we are especially pleased that The most beautiful Swiss books can act as ambassadors abroad and elicit such a positive response.
Anisha Imhasly
In charge of the competition The most beautiful Swiss books
Federal Office of Culture, Berne
Jury
Cornel Windlin, 1964, Küsnacht, Chair of the Jury
Trained in Graphic Design at the Schule für Gestaltung in Lucerne, then worked for six years in London with Neville Brody and THE FACE. Own studio in Zurich since 1993. Works for various cultural institutions and museums in Switzerland and abroad, art director of the art magazine Tate Etc. in London, Schauspielhaus Zürich (2001-2002 and again from 2009). Co-founder of Lineto, a digital font foundry. He has been responsible for conceiving and designing the Vitra Home Collection catalogues since 2004.
Piär Amrein, 1957, Zurich
Apprenticeship as book binder, paper and book restorer at the Bavarian State Library in Munich, degree in social pedagogy at the Zurich School of Social Work. Lecturer in bookbinding and paper technology at the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK and the Vocational College for Art and Design Zurich. Several exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad focusing on paper and applied art.
Lars Müller, 1955, Oslo (NO)
Designer and publisher. In 1982, he founded his studio for visual communication, Integral Lars Müller, in Baden, Switzerland, and he has been a partner of Integral Concept since 1996, an international association for transdisciplinary competence. Since 1985, he has taught regularly, most recently at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He has been active in publishing since 1983, with an international focus in the fields of architecture, design, art, photography, and society. Lars Müller is a Member of Alliance Graphique Internationale.
Paul Neale, 1966, Ashby-de-la-Zouch (UK)
Studied Graphic Design at Saint Martins School of Art and Central School of Art and Design, 1985-1988 and Graphic Design at the Royal College of Art, 1988-1990. Lecturer in typography and design, Central Saint Martins, 1991-1997. Founded the design consultancy Graphic Thought Facility (GTF), 1990 with Andrew Stevens and Nigel Robinson. GTF creates prints and digital graphics, products, and environments for businesses and art institutions.
Linda van Deursen, 1961, Amsterdam (NL)
Trained in Graphic Design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Since 1986, she collaborates with Armand Mevis. Mevis & van Deursen have been working for cultural clients, producing the new identity of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the identity and publications for fashion duo Viktor & Rolf, and numerous books on art, architecture and design. Van Deursen is head of the Graphic Design Department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and is a critic at Yale University's School of Art, New Haven, Connecticut.