Most beautiful books recognised

Recognising excellence in book design and publishing, the winners of the inaugural Most Beautiful Books – Australia and New Zealand (MBBANZ) awards have been announced.

Presented biennially by Monash Art Design & Architecture (MADA), the newly established awards program recognised 11 winners - from Daniella Germain's Mexican cookbook My Abuela's Table and Matt Connor’s A Bell is a Cup, to 3 Deep Design's Luminous: Celebrating 50 Years of Australian Ballet.

More than 300 books were entered for the awards, with just 37 shortlisted by the international panel of judges including architect Peter Corrigan, UK designer James Langdon, design lecturers Denise Whitehouse and Warren Taylor, and Auckland’s Layla Tweedie-Cullen.

Co-founder of the awards and senior lecturer Dr Brad Haylock said the judges were impressed by the standard of entries.

“We were delighted with the number and standard of entries received. We congratulate all the winners and thank the designers, printers and publishers who took an interest in the program and submitted their entries,” Dr Haylock said.

“The MBBANZ awards extend beyond the boundaries of the University and into the community of creative practice. We hope the awards program continues to recognise the international profile that book design has in Australia and New Zealand for years to come.”

The books were published in Australia and New Zealand during 2011 and 2012.

For more information or for the full list of winners visit the Most Beautiful Books – Australia and New Zealand website.