It’s time for summer reading! Are you looking to judge your next book by its cover? Peruse the PRINT Awards Student winners recognized this year and their outstanding work. They’ll inspire you to hand-letter a note to your friend from camp, illustrate your journal with sunset images, or spark an idea to do something meaningful for the world. Below, we’ve compiled student winners in book design, illustration, hand lettering, social impact, photography, and citizen design.
Book—Covers/Jackets
Zubaan
Ariana Gupta – School of Visual Arts
USA
Zubaan, an independent feminist publishing house in New Delhi, excels in academic books, fiction, memoirs, and popular nonfiction. Renowned for pioneering narratives and progressive ideologies, Zubaan amplifies women’s voices and reaches children and young adults with curated selections. As a dynamic force in the literary world, Zubaan shapes discourse with fearless exploration and advocacy for diverse stories.
Additional credits: Instructors, Rory Simms and Courtney Gooch
Second Place
Speaking in Tongues
Yoon Seo Kim – School of Visual Arts
USA
Zadie Smith’s Speaking in Tongues explores the complexities of communication, identity, and cultural barriers through the experiences of two friends living in England. As the book discusses the contrast between having multiple voices (representing multiculturalism) and a single voice, Yoon Seo aimed to use a children’s word-match worksheet as a metaphor and inspiration for the design. The design aims to illustrate how owning multiple languages (cultures) feels for readers who see the cover.
Additional credits: Instructor, Peter Ahlberg
Third Place
The Artist Book
Jiawen Zhang – School of Visual Arts
USA
This ambitious, collaborative project between the designer and esteemed American poet Elaine Sexton, comprises five intricate paper sculptures, each crafted to encapsulate a distinct interpretation of one of Sexton’s evocative poems. Despite their individuality, these sculptures are bound together by a common thematic thread: the concept of acceptance. Through artistic expression and poetic verse, the series explores various facets of acceptance, inviting viewers on a journey of introspection and understanding. By seamlessly marrying visual artistry with poetic narrative, The Artist Book transcends traditional boundaries, offering a multi-dimensional exploration of human emotion and connection that resonates deeply with audiences.
Additional credits: Olga Mezhibovskaya
Books—Entire Package
First Place
Bento of Memories
Shiyao Wu
Bento of Memories is the tangible embodiment of Shiyao Wu’s spiritual journey. It consists of four small unique books, each centered around a specific ingredient, weaving memories and stories from a particular year. Bento of Memories – Tomatoes is her reflection on her journey in 2020, once again in a foreign land, a year filled with farewells and longing for family. Bento of Memories – Maitake Mushroom is a book inspired by her summer 2021 Omakase experience. Bento of Memories – Truffle is a book commemorating her 22nd birthday dinner in 2022. Bento of Memories – Salmon is a scroll-shaped book centered around the theme of reunion. It captures the precious moments of 2023 when, after four years of separation, the designer joyfully reunited with her family.
Second Place
Dos Palmares
Maίra dos Palmares Santana
Brazil
Dos Palmares is a memorial book that brings in parallel and in chronological order a sample of four decades of graphic archive of the Brazilian Black Movement and the life of the Santana family, a black Brazilian family. Interweaving collective and personal memories, the story is told through fragments: notes, letters, invitations, photographs, doodles, thoughts, concerns, and desires. Interventions in red applied to translucent sheets express reflections and run throughout the book. Anti-racism is an exercise of recognition and projection. Protecting this book in a box is reaffirming the need to protect these memories. Telling this story is demarcating our place at the table, in design, and in the publishing market.
Additional credits: Photographer, Maίra Santana; Instructor, Flávio Nascimento
Third Place
Six-Legged Book
Seo Jin Lee – School of Visual Arts
USA
This risograph-printed book celebrates arthropods and insects that mimic butterflies through a captivating blend of photos and illustrations. Each page provides detailed insights into their anatomy and behaviors, inviting readers into the mesmerizing world of insect mimicry. With vibrant colors and striking imagery, it serves as both an artistic and educational resource, captivating audiences of all ages. Whether you’re an entomologist or simply curious about nature, this book offers a captivating journey into insect mimicry.
Additional credits: Instructor, Peter Ahlberg
Hand Lettering
First Place
Up In The Air Gonggi Typography
Jae Young Kim – Pratt Institute
USA
The Hangul & Latin multilingual typeface ‘Up In The Air’ explores how markings can evoke my cultural background and be used for communication in a typographic manner. Inspired by a Korean game, Gonggi, the typography book project narrates my childhood in Korea using Korean letters connected by randomly generated markings from gameplay.
Second Place
Amunet Type
Xinyu Liu – School of Visual Arts
USA
Amunet is a vintage serif typeface created by the designer that is inspired by ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. It uses smooth curves and streamlined arcs to symbolize the flow of history, thus creating a unique balance between classical and modern. The covers are made out of resin, and Egyptian hieroglyphics, art, architecture, and mythology were buried in layers of amber, creating a fossilized look. The “butterfly” represents reincarnation in Egyptian culture and serves as an inspiration for the theme of the work. As people open and flip through the book, the many familiar stories and characters of ancient Egypt unfold, evoking a sense of nostalgia for these early civilizations that are the very foundations of our modern society.
Additional credits: Instructor, Ros Knopov
Third Place
Bird Words
Jada Merritt – California Institute of the Arts
USA
“Bird Words” is a series of lettering and logotype exercises created over the course of a semester with the goal of developing skills in expressive and illustrative typography. Each week, the designer chose 1-2 birds to design logos for, the challenge being how to represent their characteristics typographically. Jada took inspiration from the bird’s appearance, movements, sound, color, and so on, injecting these attributes into each hand-lettered composition. By the end of the class, she had created over 20 bird logotypes, which were then compiled into a small booklet.
Additional credits: Jeffery Keedy
Illustration
First Place
Stilts, Bears & Skeletons
Heike Scharrer – Cambridge School of Art
United Kingdom
Stilts, Bears and Skeletons, a non-fiction book for all ages, depicts 15 different dance forms from around the world including ritualistic and ceremonial dances of diverse rural and urban communities and forgotten indigenous dances that were recently revived to convey political messages. Gestural mark-making and different typefaces developed for each dance complement every dance’s character and convey its energy. The artwork has been printed in a limited color palette in layers as a giclee print with a screen-printed fluorescent spot color on top. Each dance is portrayed as a dance sequence and its inspiration is visualized as a frieze underneath the text.
Additional credits: Instructor, Katherina Manolessou
Second Place
Xiaoyun Tian
Xiaoyun Tian – Cambridge School of Art
United Kingdom
This picture book tells the story of a firefly called Neon who yearns for city life and comes to work in the city from the forest where he lives. In order to stay in the city, he joins a design company, which is designed according to the template. The work mode caused Neon to fall into anxiety, and finally, his practices and thoughts infected his colleagues, and a single spark was able to start a prairie fire. The inspiration for the project comes from the current reality of workplace pressure in China. At present, 996 has become a norm in most companies in China, that is, going to work at 9 AM, leaving work at 9 PM, and working six days a week.
Third Place
Gulf Horizons Illustrations
Jazmine Garcia – University of North Texas
USA
Gulf Horizon’s new website design needed to feel immersive and inviting for adventurers seeking information on kayaking and similar outdoor activities. A collection of bespoke illustrations and curated photography, paired with a rich color palette, showcases the information in the tone of a cheerful oasis. These lush layered illustrations feature state flowers, birds, and more. Three illustrations were created for each of the five Gulf states. Each spot illustration uses three colors. The variety of shapes and textures creates movement while keeping the focus on the primary figure.
Additional credits: Instructor, Erica Holeman
Photography
First Place
The Dream
Emily Brown – University of Texas at Arlington
USA
This film & darkroom photography project is about the idea of the designer and her sister as facsimiles of one another. The work reflects on their experiences growing up, dealing with body image issues, the complexities of being a woman, and feeling one way inside and having to act another way on the surface. The photos are meant to be dreamlike and evocative of a memory. The designer used a soft-focus lens and black-and-white film processed in a traditional darkroom. The double exposures were created in-camera using a 1990s film camera.
Additional credits: Instructor, Scott Hilton
Design for Social Impact
First Place
Elephant in the room
Eason Yang
Named for “No Evidence of Disease” (a medical term) and “Not Entirely Dead” (an inside joke for cancer patients), NED is a non-profit social enterprise championing cancer survivors in the workplace. NED highlights survivors’ extraordinary abilities forged through adversity, guiding them to become exceptionally employable. This project aims to raise awareness of the stigma and bias people have in the workplace against cancer survivors and their resume gaps—aka the Elephant in the room.
Second Place
Phantom Limbs: Design Interventions and Site-specific Storytelling
Veronica Tsai – Art Center College of Design
USA
Phantom Limbs: Design Interventions and Site-specific Storytelling, explores how the power of site-specific design can be used to tell the forgotten stories of underrepresented communities. Focused on Pasadena, the designer selected several sites where displacements of communities—mainly working-class people of color—occurred. The core features of Phantom Limbs are site-specific, projection-mapped environmental graphics. The designer experimented with various scales and materials by projecting statements, imageries, and other content that pertain to the history of these sites.
Additional credits: Photography, Veronica Tsai, Brad Bartlett; Instructors, Brad Bartlett, Miles Mazzie
Third Place
Ace Week
Nicole Tocco – Savannah College of Art and Design
USA
Asexuality is often overlooked within the LGBTQIA+ community. To raise awareness, Asexual Outreach hosts Ace Week, a week-long event celebrating the Ace community. This project explores a new identity system for Ace Week, including posters, event passes, and merchandise. The design features Ace colors and bold typography, with extended letters that guide the viewer’s eye and highlight the event’s focus on visibility for the Ace community.
Additional credits: Instructor, Michael Whitney
Citizen Design
First Place
Lampião da Esquina
Pedro Melo – Federal University of Rio De Janeiro
Brazil
Lampião da Esquina consists of the study and graphic and editorial production of an alternative LGBTQIAPN+ publication for the Brazilian publishing market, taking as its basis and historically rescuing the queer tabloid of the same name that circulated on newsstands between 1978 and 1981, in the midst of the military dictatorship. The aim was to rethink Lampião as a current publication, adapting its content, format, printing techniques, and handling to the challenges and experiences of today’s LGBTQIAPN+ community. Its new guise seeks to break the (hetero)normative structure of a newspaper, bringing a changeable grid between its pages and editions, the complete absence of capital letters, and a vertical format that resembles the screens of a cell phone. For its special launch edition (number #00), texts were written that were able to present the new editorial and graphic proposal and introduce this unprecedented stage of the newspaper to the public.
Additional credits: Instructor, Nair de Paula Soares; Photography, Sara Monteiro; Reviewer, Italo Braga
Congratulations to all the professional and student participants in this year’s PRINT Awards! We look forward to seeing what you have in store for us in 2025.