'Book Cover Prize' for design excellence instituted

An award to honour the best book cover designs has been instituted, with the aim to encourage young talent and highlight the hard work that goes behind cover-making.

Oxford Bookstore on Tuesday announced the institution of India's first "Book Cover Prize" to honour excellence in book design. The prize will be announced at the 2016 Jaipur Literature Festival.

"There are a lot of young graphic designers and artists working on these book cover designs, and through this award we aim to give them exposure for the hard work they have been doing in making these book covers a success," Priti Paul, director of Apeejay Surrendra Group, told IANS.

"Though we say never judge a book by its cover, in reality a book cover summaries the essence of the story," she added.

Amid the sea of awards in the publishing industry that mainly focus on writers and books, Paul during a brainstorming session with Namita Gokhale, author and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, came up with the idea of adding value to the completely ignored aspect of covers.

"This aspect of the industry needed some stimulation and we hope this award not only brings them (artists) honour but also some monetary gains," she said.

The selection process would be announced shortly, along with the names of the jury.

"I can assure you that it will be a prestigious jury, who will be from different backgrounds and their expertise will evaluate the selection process," Paul said.