Organized in conjunction with the International Information Content Industry Association (ICIA), the Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF) has announced the first-ever Global Illustration Award. Designed to attract entries from around the world, the competition will be operated exclusively by IlluSalon, a global illustration resource platform, and illustrators can submit entries until 14 August 2016 (www.illusalon. com/Home/Award).
With a prize fund of 30,000 Euros, and with the first prize winner receiving 10,000 Euros, the competition will culminate in a prestigious awards ceremony on 20 October at the FBF. The competition is open to all illustrators, regardless of genre, subject area or medium, including eBooks. The long list is due to be published at the beginning of September, with the short list being revealed at a later point.
There are five categories in this year’s Global Illustration Awards – Cover Illustration, Children’s Book Illustration, Editorial Illustration, Scientific Illustration and Theme Illustration. The topic for this year’s Theme Illustration is ‘Learning to Live Together.’ The awards are intended to encourage the creativity of illustrations worldwide, build a bridge of collaboration for the content industry, and set new trends for it.
The judges this year comprise six industry experts from the fields of illustration, art, publishing and media. They are Aljoscha Blau (illustrator), Andrea Wendt (founder, 2 agenten Agency for Illustrators), Bettina Schulz (editor-in-chief, novum World of Graphic Design), Thérèse Willer (chief curator, Tomi Ungerer Museum – International Illustration Centre), Till Weitendorf (CEO, Friedrich Oetinger Publishing House), and Xueqian Li (president, China Children’s Press and Publication Group). A shortlist of fifteen candidates will be nominated, all of whom will have the opportunity to have their works featured on the GIA website and get promoted across the ICIA and FBF’s significant industry networks.
Juergen Boos, director of the FBF, says about the award, “In today’s visually dominated world, illustration and design are of increasing value and particular importance in the process of creating beautiful books. With the recent resurgence of print books, recognizing the valuable contribution that illustrations make in the production process is even more significant. The Global Illustration Award is a unique award, taking into consideration all forms of illustrations, regardless of genre, subject matter and medium. As the FBF has always been an important meeting point for designers and illustrators, we are delighted that together with our partner this new prize has been initiated and will be awarded for the first time at this year’s FBF.”
Mingliang Hou, founder of IlluSalon, says, “After a year’s work of planning and preparation, the long-awaited Global Illustration Awards have finally arrived. Covering all varieties of illustrations, the significance of these awards, in terms of value and the effect on the global content industry – and the publishing industry in particular – is quite clear. Every aspect of the Global Illustration Awards – the numerous exquisite competing pieces, a highly qualified and experienced judging panel, a fair judging process, and a grand awards party – highlights the awards’ authoritative nature. Indeed, these awards will be a grand occasion for the illustration industry.”
