Winners
 
 Budgets below $750,000

Budgets above $750,000

More than 120 books, catalogues, posters, invitations, press kits and other materials have been selected as winners of the 29th annual AAM Museum Publications Design Competition (Pub Comp). The competition, which acknowledges excellence in the graphic design of museum publications, is the only national, juried event involving publications produced by museums of all kinds and sizes. This year’s contest drew more than 700 entries.

In 2000, AAM introduced the “best-of-show” award—the Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize for Excellence in Publication Design. Known as the Franny, the prize is named for the late editor-in-chief at the National Gallery of Art, a long-time Pub Comp judge who was instrumental in helping the competition achieve the national stature it has today. This year, the judges awarded the Franny to the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pa.,  for N.C. Wyeth Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings, designed by Patricia Inglis, Inglis Design. The judges loved its classic presentation, timelessness and flawless production.

Competing institutions were divided according to budget: museums with annual operating budgets of $750,000 or more and those with budgets of less than $750,000. Within each budget division, entries competed in 15 categories, including books, educational resources, newsletters, fund-raising materials and scholarly journals. Entries in all 15 categories were eligible for the Franny.
 
Two teams of judges chose the winners. Comprising the first team were Andrea Stevens, director of strategic communications, SITES, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., and Susan v. Levine, creative director, AAM. Serving on the second team were Bennett DeOlazo, creative director, Studio B, Alexandria, Va., Robert Wiser, Art Director, Archetype Press, Silver Spring.
 
A selection of the winners will be displayed at AAM’s annual meeting, which takes place in Philadelphia, April 30–May 4, and the competition results will be featured in the July/August 2009 issue of AAM’s national magazine, Museum.

2008 Winners & Judges' Comments

Download the list of 2008 PubComp Winners & Judges' Comments 

Previous Year's Honorees:

2007 Winners

Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize
Budgets above $750,000
Budgets below $750,000

All entries were eligible for the Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize for Excellence in Publication Design, Known as the Franny. In 2006, the judges awarded the Franny to the Smithsonian American Art Museum for the book America’s Art, designed by Karen Siatras, and published by Harry Abrams, New York.

Budgets Below $500,000
Budgets Above $500,000

For further information, please contact Managing Editor Susan Breitkopf at sbreitkopf@aam-us.org.