The 2019 Academy of British Cover Design Awards was unveiled recently. The result spawned a smorgasbord of good and sadly some underwhelming work. As with previous years, it is a combination of reimagining some 50s and 60s retro style work, some excessively overpopulated typographical covers and happily, some clear gems.
The awards span some ten categories, and it would seem that every category just had to have a winner, regardless of design quality. I've learned that to mention D&AD to any ABCD entrant is anathema, to a certain extent I can understand the reluctance of many designers working in and for the publishing world, as they have felt that their work is overlooked or ignored by D&AD. There is no doubt that the organisation has become far too big and bloated for its own good. However, you will still find a category empty if the work isn't good enough. To my mind that is important otherwise, the quality will remain stagnant.
Here is my pick of the 2019 shelf...
Designed by Dan Mogford
Designed by Julian Humpharies
Designed by Jon Gray
Designed by Matthew Young. Illustration by Hiroyuki Izutsu
Designed by Claudio Ripol. Illustration by Yeonju Yang
Designed by Jamie Keenan
Series designed by Peter Barnfather. Illustration by Roman Muradov