Museum Publications Design Competition
All museums are eligible to enter the Alliance’s annual publications design competition.
Eligibility
- Publications must be produced between Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2019.
- Any noncommercial cultural institution offering exhibits to the public may participate.
- Commercial designers, galleries, and publishing interests are not eligible.
- Entrants need not be Alliance members.
- A publication is defined as material reproduced in printed form for distribution to the public.
- Only the finished product is submissible (no mock-ups or proofs).
- Slides, transparencies, and photographs of entries are not eligible.
Categories
Judges will have the discretion to move a designated entry into the most appropriate entry category. All entries are automatically eligible for the Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize for Excellence in Publication Design, which recognizes the “best of show.”
Entry Guidelines
Guidelines will be available on April 20, 2020.
Past Winners
Deadline:
June 12, 2020
About the Competition
For more than 28 years, the Alliance has recognized and encouraged superior execution and ingenuity in the graphic design of museum publications through the Museum Publications Design Competition, the only national, juried competition of its kind. Winners are chosen for their overall design excellence, creativity, and ability to express an institution’s personality, mission, or special features. The panel of judges includes graphic designers, museum professionals, and/or publishers.
Judges award the Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize for Excellence in Publication Design to the best publication in the competition. The judges have sole authority over all decisions, including whether or not to award prizes in each of the entry categories.
This year, judges will also be recognizing entries in any category that offer creative solutions and/or innovation regardless of institutional budget size.
Competing institutions are divided according to budget: museums with annual operating budgets under $750,000 and those with budgets of $750,000 or more.