Silver A' Design Award in Print and Published Media Design Goes to Catalogue of Incunabula Book Series by Aleksandra Toborowicz

Aleksandra Toborowicz recognized for print and published media design by the international grand jury of the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 23, 2021 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Catalogue of Incunabula Book Series by Aleksandra Toborowicz, designed for National Library of Poland / Biblioteka Narodowa, has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Print and Published Media Design category. The award was conferred within the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

What the Silver A' Design Award Means

The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.

About Catalogue of Incunabula Book Series

Catalogue of Incunabula is a two-volume book that documents the collection of fifteenth-century prints held by the National Library of Poland. The design refers to the style of early Renaissance printing and typography. Large initials form the main visual theme, and the cover title is produced by two-color typographic printing. Blind debossing of a Renaissance grid marks the covers. The text is set in the oldstyle serif Adobe Jenson Pro. The cover paper is made of cotton and has a rough texture. The sewn binding lets the thick volumes open easily for reading.

About Aleksandra Toborowicz

Dr Aleksandra Toborowicz is a Polish graphic designer, muralist, painter and academic teacher – Professor Assistant and Head of the Lettering and Typography Studio and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Graphics Art at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, Poland. PhD degree (Doctor of Arts) at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow in 2015. In 2008 graduated from the Faculty of Graphics Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow (Poland). DESIGNER / PAINTER / MURALIST / LECTURER Graphic designer, designing mostly for typography, publishing, murals and installations.

Award Record

With this recognition, Aleksandra Toborowicz is a winner of 11 A' Design Awards. The awards span the editions from 2014 - 2015 to 2020 - 2021 of the A' Design Award & Competition.

About the A' Print and Published Media Design Award

The A' Print Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good printed and published media by leading designers and brands worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to print designers, published media designers, graphic designers and typography experts from all countries. Entries typically include brochures, posters, magazines, catalogs, flyers and business cards. Awarded print designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/print

About A' Design Award & Competition

A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Winner Page: https://designers.org/114705
A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/114705
Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!114705
Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/142119
Further Information from the Laureate: https://bit.ly/3u2X6Nw

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project: Catalogue of Incunabula Book Series
Function: Book Series
Category: Print and Published Media Design
Discipline: Communication Design
Industry: Branding & Advertising and Entertainment
Colors: Black, Dark Slate Gray, Lavender, Crimson and Gainsboro
Images: 5
Client: National Library of Poland / Biblioteka Narodowa

The Recognition

Laureate: Aleksandra Toborowicz
Country: Poland
Recognition: Silver A' Design Award
Edition: 2020 - 2021
Design ID: #114705

Credits

Team: Katarzyna Niewczas and Monika Michowicz

Design Details

Unique Properties: The idea of the project refers to the style of the first Renaissance prints and typography - both in the selection of materials: elegant, hand-made cover paper and inside pages, by referring to the typography – large initials, which are the leitmotif of the project, as well as the technique of two-color typographic printing in the title of the cover. The subtle blind debossing of the Renaissance grid adds elegance to the design and strengthens historical references. An oldstyle and serif Adobe Jenson Pro font used in publication also refers to the first text face cut in Venice by Nicolas Jenson around 1470.
Inspiration: The two-volume "Catalogue of Incunabula in the National Library of Poland" presents the collection of 15th-century prints held by the BNP, the sixth-largest such collection in Poland (1,131 copies of 1,034 printed editions). Perhaps the greatest achievement of this tradition so far was the publication of the central catalogue of all incunabula in Poland; now it is the turn of the collection of the National Library, presented here in great detail. The idea of the project refers to the style of the first Renaissance prints and typography.
Research: The Catalogue of Incunabula in the National Library of Poland continues the tradition of research into the oldest surviving examples of printing, begun by Kazimierz Piekarski before the Second World War. It was compiled by Michał Spandowski in collaboration with Slawomir Szyller. Descriptions of the bindings are by Maria Brynda. The National Library of Poland has a cooperation agreement with the Berlin State Library dating from 2011, thanks to which the Catalogue has been reviewed by Dr Falk Eisermann, head of the Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke (Union Catalogue of Incunabula) in Berlin, whose division is the leading body dealing with the global bibliography of fifteenth-century prints.
Challenge: The biggest challenge was to design the layout – a complex, specialized and multi-part hierarchy and typographic layout, as well as a very voluminous text material while limiting the page limit.
Realization and Technology: cover: Arches White 400 g/m2; dry embossing – lines, title text – typographic printing cover print: 2+1 printed on: Munken Premium Cream 1.3, 90 g/m2 inside print: 2+2 (czarny + Pantone 199 U) red threads typefaces: Adobe Jenson Pro, Incunables
Operation and Interaction: The publication, which consists of many pages, was prepared in the otabind binding technique, which allows for easy opening of the book and makes it easier to read.
Project Duration and Location: year: 2019–2020, Kraków–Warszawa
Specifications: binding: sewn-glued binding (otabind) format: 168 x 240 mm number of pages: 1080 (vol. 1: 704, vol. 2: 392) printed by: Marceli Sp. z o.o., Warszawa circulation: 250
Keywords: catalogue, incunabula, publication, book, old-style, initials, typography, Renaissance, blind deboss, letterpress, renaissance grid,