About the awarded year
This year a total of 275 publications, including 10 Italian and 48 French titles, were entered in the Competition "The most beautiful Swiss books". The seven-member jury under President François Rappo singled out 33 of these as the most beautiful Swiss books, principally based on design-related criteria. The decisive factors in the judging were, in addition to the idea and design concept of the individual book, the typography, the quality of the printing and the binding, the materials used and the overall impression given. Besides books of art and illustrated works as well as specialized books, which again this year account for most entries, a number of belletristic and experimental books are also to be found. The palette extends from programme booklets with very large printings to private press-published works printed in very limited numbers.
For the third time, the members of the jury selected a "Book of the Jury". This was the straightforward and very subtly designed exhibition catalogue entitled "Olafur Eliasson. Movement Meter for Lernacken." designed and produced by the studio groenland.berlin.basel (Michael Heimann and Dorothea Weishaupt).
At the same time the jury awarded the Jan Tschichold Prize, with which the Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs (DHA) honours creative and exceptional commitment in the field of book design. This year the prize, endowed with 15'000 Swiss francs. went to the innovative designer team NORM, Dimitri Bruni and Manuel Krebs of Zurich. With diverse, outstandingly executed commissioned jobs as well as very committed book projects of their own, the young book designers are making a notable contribution to Swiss book design.
The Swiss Federal Office of Culture (SFOC) highlights high-end quality book design creativity in Switzerland not only with these annual competition results, but also engages in the direct promotion of young book designers by awarding design contracts. This is in close connection with the general practice of design promotion by the Swiss government.
The Competition "The most beautiful Swiss books" has been organized since 1999 by the Art and Design Section of the SFOC on the behalf of the DHA and is also under the patronage of the Swiss Book Publishers Association.
This publication is being produced to coincide with the two exhibitions to be held in the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich and in the mu.dac in Lausanne, where all 33 prize-winning books will be displayed.
Mirjam Fischer, SFOC, Berne
Jury
François Rappo, 1955, Chair of the Jury, Lausanne.
Graphic designer and typographer. Active in the fields of book design and type design, corporate and exhibition design as well as orientation and information systems. Since 1996 Head of the Department of Visual Communication at the ECAL in Lausanne. Member of the Swiss Federal Design Commission.
Julia Born, 1975, Amsterdam (NL) and Zurich
Trained in graphic design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, active as a freelance graphic designer between Amsterdam and Zurich, mainly in the cultural domain. Teaching activities at the ECAL in Lausanne and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie.
Patrick Frey, 1951, Zurich
Studies in economics and art history. Art historian, exhibition organizer and publisher of art books. Writes and publishes concerning contemporary art and artists, photography and the phenomena of everyday culture. Since 1983/84 active in cabaret and the theatre as well as projects for radio and television.
Ursula Hiestand, 1936, Zollikon
Visual designer. In 1960-81 founder and head of the studio E.+U. Hiestand. Commissions from business and culture in widely varying fields of visual communication. Since 2001 President of the supervisory section of the Allgemeine Berufsschule für Gestaltung in Zurich.
Hans-Jürg Hunziker, 1938, Paris (F)
Trained as typesetter, worked at Mergenthaler Linotype in New York, then with Adrian Frutiger in Paris. Since 1976 active as a freelance typographer. Type instruction at the Schule für Gestaltung in Zurich and director of studies at the Atelier national de création typographique in Nancy.
Karel Martens, 1939, Arnhem (NL)
Since 1961 active as visual designer in the fields of book art and typography for a wide variety of clients. Teaching activity at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht. In 1996 awarded the Dr. A. H. Heineken Prize for Art. Founder of Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem.
Susanna Stammbach, 1957, Basel
Trained as a typesetter and typographical designer. Teaches at institutes including the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst in Zurich and Lucerne as well as the Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano. Since 1991 works in her own studio in Basel.