Thanks for pointing to Parisa Tashakori's work! It's gorgeous. I was hoping to see more international design like this in the competition this year... I only counted 14 (out of 91) from outside the US (Canada, the UK, Mexico, Brazil)
While some of my favorites from the past year were included (Translucent Tree-Timothy Goodman, Columbine-Henry Sene Yee, Obsession-Isaac Tobin & Lauren Nassef), there were so many other designs that I loved from 2008 that I was hoping to see on the list:
Against Happiness - Jennifer Carrow Lewis Carroll in Numberland - Henry Sene Yee Here's How I See It, Here's How It Is - Christopher Brand The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri - Paul Buckley The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Peter Mendelsund Spade & Archer - Jason Booher The Great Gamble - Christopher Sergio Grand Obsession - Jason Heuer
Like Karen mentioned, I'm not sure if these books were among the "more than 900 entries," but 9 open spots seems ridiculous to me considering what I've seen in my local B&N this past year, and what I haven't seen in bookstores around the world... Lame, AIGA.

I found it to be rather pretentious of the judges to do this, especially considering people payed a lot of money to enter this. I thought it was a bit of a slap to the face of the industry considering the fact there was so much quality work out there this year. Perhaps it is more of a statement on the quality of the judges. Some of my picks would be 2666 by Charlotte Strick Spade and Archer by Jason Booher The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Peter Mendelsund Against Happiness - Jennifer Carrow

What is the point of naming the competition AIGA's 50 Books/50 Covers? It is really insulting to book design that they couldn't recognize 50 examples of quality work. Was finding 50 out of 900+ entries so hard? The AIGA always seems to highlight the same handful of designers. Is it a matter of "quality" or elitism? I would love to see more academic / university / smaller presses & smaller budgets recognized. But I'm sure the high AIGA entry fees are a deterrent. If the state of book cover design is so bad that you can’t find 50 worthy covers, then the end of book cover design will not be coming from e-Books but from within.

They should refund part of the entry fees since the odds of getting were decreased by almost 20%. It is ridiculous the amount of money it costs to enter all the competitions and then if you do win you have to pay for the trophy. The AIGA and the judges should be ashamed. There were so many great covers last year. I think now would be a good time to announce the FaceOut Books 41 Covers Design Competition.

50 Bucks/41 Covers of 2009! It would be interesting to see if there is any precedent for this (a year when less than 100 winners were chosen)...I doubt it. When I worked at Houghton, I spent a lot of time looking through 50/50 catalogs from past years—the design department's library had them dating back to the 1930s. I'm pretty sure there were 100 entries in each and every one. Is this truly the AIGA's take on state of book and cover design, or is it just another indicator of the decreasing value they place on the 50/50 competition each year? It's already been inextricably tethered to the 365 Competition, I'm sure it will soon be folded in completely. So much for the sound bite on "time-honored tradition" they append to the call for entries each year. W. A. Dwiggins is spinning in his grave, I'm sure.

I believe they have picked under 50 before. I think you just have to peruse the portfolios on designrelated (or even just the designers above) to know there are 9 covers out there that would be great additions to the selections for this year.

They have, indeed, picked less than 50 covers before, and with the same poor excuse; they couldn't find 50 covers which met their criteria for good design (of course they could). The competition is called 50 books/50 covers. The judges' job is to find the 50 best covers, not 41. If they can't find 50 they should go back to the books and look again. They should not be able to leave the judging until they find 50. All entrants have been mislead. Number 42 didn't make it into the best 50 show and paid good money to try. Designers numbered 42 through 50 should all be placed into the next year's book with an apology from AIGA. Past years too.

I would argue the quality of book design overall is increasing and more competitive (and I would guess that the entries to 50/50 would reflect that). Therefore, the problem shouldn't have been finding 50, but limiting it to 50 worthy entries. Looking at the portfolios of any of the above respondents is testimony to that.

I agree with Henry that this is a disservice to the book industry as well as to design. Every year I find myself picking up copies of the books that make AIGA's 50/50 list, and I know other people do the same. Being included on the list is free advertising for a book, and may rejuvenate sales on books that have begun to flag after a year on the shelves. At the rate the publishing industry is going, every book sold is important. I think that especially after a year when so many publishing employees were laid off it's important to show that the industry is still producing strong work.

These were this years judges. Jane Brown Distributed Art Publishers (D.A.P.), Los Angeles Rodrigo Corral Rodrigo Corral Design, New York Vanessa Eckstein Bløk Design, Mexico City Franc Nunoo Quarcoo University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore Brett Yasko Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Yes, 2008 didn't seem like a year with a design drought. I'd be interested to hear an AIGA representative weigh in on this.

I agree with Charles. Some art directors who work at smaller publishing house with no budget for design competitions pay out of their own pockets. That stings quite a bit.

Even at big houses designers and art directors pay fees out of pocket. Just sucks all around.

It is wonderful that people are following 50 Books/50 Covers so closely. The conversation validates its continuing relevance. AIGA selects a jury of thoughtful, experienced, respected professionals to select a representation of the best design of the year, considering a variety of criteria applied to the books that have been entered (and we know there are worthy and exciting designs that are not entered). AIGA has never set a quantitative target over a qualitative judgment and we respect the jury in deciding where the threshold falls in meeting a consistent standard in their judgment. In this competition, as in the broader 365 competition, AIGA trusts the jury to explain the standards it sets and to apply them consistently and appropriately. This is not the first time that there have not been 50 covers; however, this is still a more generous selection than in the categories of 365, in which only 5-15 might be selected (even for broad categories like brand design or package design or information design). The title is simply that: a title and a target that we provide to the jury in its deliberations and usually it works well, although every jury has the greatest challenge in closing the gap between the selections that meet a natural consensus, usually fewer than fifty, and the strive target, since this often involves changing the criteria that have been agreed upon and then reducing the number of selections that meet a different criterion. We hope you will all join us in encouraging designers and publlshers to enter their work next year so that they can be certain to be considered.