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# “Typographic Eye Candy”: 50 Standout Book Covers From 2020
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/50-standout-book-covers-from-2020/
- Published: 2021-06-23T19:50:47.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:15:29.000Z
- Description: This week, the American Institute of Graphic Arts announced the winners from its 2020 book cover competition.
- Author: Sarah Rose Sharp
- Tags: Books, Design, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-large, #Import 2025-11-24 09:11 (2021, 2022, part 1)

The common adage warns against judging a book by its cover, but when you’re judging book covers, it’s only appropriate. This week, [AIGA](https://www.aiga.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com) (the American Institute of Graphic Arts, a professional association for design), announced the winners from its [2020 book cover competition](https://www.aiga.org/professional-development/competitions-campaigns/50-books-50-covers?ref=hyperallergic.com). AIGA has held a Fifty Books of the Year competition since 1923, but the competition changed to 50 Books|50 Covers in 1995\. The 2020 edition yielded 696 book and cover design entries from 36 countries.

This year's competition was juried by [Gail Anderson (chair), Jennifer Morla, Paul Sahre, and Kelly Walters](https://50books50covers.secure-platform.com/a/page/judging?ref=hyperallergic.com), who weighed entries on factors including concept, innovation, and visual elements such as typography, illustration, and information design. The [winner’s gallery](https://50books50covers.secure-platform.com/a/gallery?roundId=159&ref=hyperallergic.com) features an array of approaches, from minimalist to typographic, to a particular emphasis on [hand-drawn covers](https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/during-a-year-inside-illustrations-offered-a-window-to-the-world/?ref=hyperallergic.com) — attributed to the sanctions placed on photoshoots by COVID-19 restrictions.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2021/06/penguin-vitae-5-book-boxed-set-02.jpg)

Penguin Vitae 5-Book Boxed Set, one of the AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers winners for 2020

Penguin Classics snagged a prize-winning spot for a [five-book box set](https://50books50covers.secure-platform.com/a/gallery/rounds/159/details/43417?ref=hyperallergic.com) of lynchpin works by Audre Lorde, Kate Chopin, Nella Larson, Reinaldo Arenas, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which juror Jennifer Morla described as, "Typographic eye candy: a horizontally oriented, colorful carousel of a series for Penguin."

[*Tokyo Ueno Station*](https://50books50covers.secure-platform.com/a/gallery/rounds/159/details/43421?ref=hyperallergic.com) (Riverhead Books) by Yu Miri features a hand-drawn cover in jewel tones, of the sort that exemplifies the adaptive hand-drawn trend of 2020 with engaging simplicity. *Black Futures* (Chris Jackson, One World, Random House) is a groundbreaking text in several respects, but earned acclaim in this context for its stripped-down black matte cover punctuated by holographic lettering, as well as its interior design — all courtesy of design firm Morcos Key.

“The design of Black Futures beautifully captures images, text, and essays into a contemporary non-linear experience. The editorial layout invites a playful exploration from start to finish,” said juror Kelly Walters.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2021/06/tokyo-ueno-station-02.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2021/06/black-futures-02.jpg)

Tokyo Ueno Station (Riverhead Books) by Yu Miri

Of course, art books are at the forefront of a competition for artfully designed books. “[Delirium](https://50books50covers.secure-platform.com/a/gallery/rounds/159/details/43281?ref=hyperallergic.com)” (Spaceheater Editions) by Philip Zimmerman features spread after spread of halftone illustrations that flirt with interpretive biology like an esoteric microcosmic riff on Ernst Haeckel’s [*Kunstformen der Natur*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunstformen%5Fder%5FNatur?ref=hyperallergic.com) (Art forms of Nature) (1904). And [internet sensation](https://www.instagram.com/accidentallywesanderson/?hl=en&ref=hyperallergic.com)\-turned-coffee-table-book-du-jour [*Accidentally Wes Anderson*](https://50books50covers.secure-platform.com/a/gallery/rounds/159/details/43309?ref=hyperallergic.com) (Voracious / Little, Brown and Co.) by Wally Koval compiles real life photographs that, in the words of juror Paul Sahre, “captures the Wes Anderson 'thing' perfectly.”

These are just a few standouts from an already outstanding field. Those with an eye for design should browse the winners’ gallery with care — while the cover might not say much for the content, the power of these covers to engage might be irresistible for aesthetic bibliophiles.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2021/06/accidentally-wes-anderson-02.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2021/06/delirium-03.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2021/06/delirium-07.jpg)

Accidentally Wes Anderson (Voracious / Little, Brown and Co.) by Wally Koval

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2021/06/hotel-almighty-02.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2021/06/niche-02.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2021/06/like-sugar-02.jpg)

Hotel Almighty (Sarabande Books) by Sarah J. Sloat