AIGA Looks Back on the 50 Best Book and Book Cover Designs of 2023

We are not immune to the power of good book design here at PRINT, and we’re not ashamed to admit it. We love book covers, in particular. Every month, our resident book cover scholar, Zachary Petit, conducts a round-up of the best book covers; you can check out his September picks here!

Our obsession with celebrating book and cover design finds good company—AIGA has just announced its 50 best book covers and 50 best book designs of 2023.

Just because we’re hurtling through the last quarter of 2024 doesn’t mean we can’t take a moment to reflect on these stellar book and cover designs from last year. AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2023 marks the 100th year of the competition, with 542 book and cover designs entered from 28 countries. All Eligible entries had to have been published and used in the marketplace in 2023.

One hundred years into this competition, the book seems to be as protean and chimeric as ever.

Rob Giampietro, AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers Chair

“At times confounded and delighted, we asked ourselves [during the judging process], Is this a course packet or a manifesto? A sculpture or a monograph? A glossary or a guidebook? Is this book contemporary or retro? Gauche or chic?” Rob Giampietro, chair of the competition, said of their consideration process. “We debated books that blended the grotesque with the goofy alongside books that were delicate, subtle, and difficult to emotionally classify. In the end, we felt we found some of the best of this year’s offerings, books that in every case seem to show what design can do to bring the experience of reading to riskier-yet-more-rewarding places.”

Each of the 2023 winners can be viewed through AIGA’s online gallery, and will become part of the AIGA collection at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University’s Butler Library in New York. Entries for 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2024 can be submitted starting this November.