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Croatian books selected for 2025 “Best Book Design from all over the World” competition

The covers of best designed Croatian books published in 2024.

The National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) and Croatian Designers Association selected best designed Croatian books published in 2024 as part of the national book design competition (Hrvatska lijepa knjiga), annually organised as part of a larger, international competition, conducted by the German Book Art Foundation (Stiftung Buchkunst).

The selected books will enter two major book events in Europe – the international Best Book Design from all over the World competition, which is held every year as part of the Leipzig Book Fair, and the Book Art International exhibition, traditionally taking place as part of the world-famous Frankfurt Book Fair.

The members of the judging panel of Croatia’s 2024 national book design competition (Hrvatska lijepa knjiga) the Head of the NSK Print Collection Tamara Ilić Olujić, Associate Professor at the University of Osijek’s Academy of Arts and Culture and cultural theorist Nives Tomašević, graphic artist and professional cameraman Luka Gusić, academic painter and graphic artist Danijel Srdarev (photo on the left) and visual communication designer, co-founder of the Oaza creative design team and the Assistant Professor at the School of Design of the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Architecture Maša Poljanec (first left on the photo on the right).

Out of altogether 197 entries submitted during this latest edition of the competition, a judging panel consisting of the graphic artist and professional cameraman Luka Gusić, academic painter and graphic artist Danijel Srdarev, Associate Professor at the University of Osijek’s Academy of Arts and Culture and cultural theorist Nives Tomašević, Croatian visual communication designer, co-founder of the Oaza creative design team and the Assistant Professor at the School of Design of the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Architecture Maša Poljanec and Head of the NSK Print Collection Tamara Ilić Olujić selected the following 12 titles, listed here in alphabetical order:

Designing in Coexistence – Reflections on Systemic Change
Authors: Martín Ávila, James Auger, M. Buonincontri, Sigrid Bürstmayr, Luka Fatović, Valentin Graillat, Francesco E. Guida, Harriet Harris, Vedran Kasap, Boštjan Botas Kenda, Emil Kozole, Niko Mihaljević, Ivica Mitrović, Lígia Oliveira, Open Forest Collective (Andrea Botero, Markéta Dolejšová, Jaz Hee-jeong Choi and Chewie), Nejc Prah, Mia Roth & Tonči Čerina, Michael Smyth, Mladen Šolić, Oleg Šuran, Olivier Troff, Ozana Ursić
Photographs: Marko Mihaljević
Design and layout: Niko Mihaljević
Publisher: Udruženje hrvatskih arhitekata

Domaći stranci – filozofija migracije
Author: Donatella Di Cesare
Graphic design: Ivan Klisurić
Publisher: DAF, Zagreb

Drvo – priče o pjesmama
Authors: group of authors / Editor: Đorđe Matić
Graphic design: Ana Pojatina
Publisher: Naklada Ljevak d.o.o.

Grad je sinteza
Author: Saša Šimpraga
Photographs: Katarina Zlatec and Saša Šimpraga
Graphic design: Zoran Đukić
Publisher: Vizkultura

Ja protiv sebe
Author: Iva Bezinović – Haydon
Illustrations: Hana Tintor
Graphic design: Ana Vujasić
Publisher: Ibis grafika d.o.o

Ključić
Author: Sanja Lovrenčić
Illustrations: Lucija Mrzljak
Design: Zrinka Horvat
Publisher: Mala zvona

Krešimirac
Authors: Dino Igrec and Sonja Leboš
Graphic design: Tessa Bachrach-Krištofić
Publisher: Udruga za interdisciplinarna i interkulturalna istraživanja

On Witches
Author: Sanja Iveković
Photographs: Jerry Braun, Jadran Boban, Roko Crnić, ©Nacional and Goran Fejić
Graphic design: Nina Bačun and Roberta Bratović
Publisher: Umjetnička organizacija Oaza

Postelje
Author: Jean de Breyne
Graphic design: Božidarka Brnas / Bestias
Publisher: Meandar Media d.o.o., Zagreb

Queer Balkan
Authors: group of authors / Editors: Ivana Dražić and Lara Mitraković
Graphic design/Design: Zoran Đukić
Publisher: Kulturtreger, Zagreb

Rat
Author: Miljenko Jergović
Cover design: Ivan Stanišić 
Graphic design: Petra Pestić
Publishers: Fraktura

Staging an/d Archive
Authors: Matija Ferlin, Mauricio Ferlin, Maja Kolar and Tina Ivezić
Photographs: Andi Bančić, Heinz Peter Knes, Saša Miljević, Hervé Véronèse, Nicholas Minns, Nurith Wagner-Strauss, Karlo Čargonja, Ana Buljan, Jelena Janković, Matija Šćulac, Jose Caldeira, Domagoj Blažević, Matea Jocić, Mara Bratoš, Mustafa Sabbagh, Alex Nussbaumer, Luka Dubroja, Goran Ferčec, Larry Dufresne, Vika Nightingale, Sensoreye, Santiago Sepulveda, Urška Boljkovac, Nada Žgank, Sandra Belanger, Danko Stjepanović, Branko Starčević, Jurica Marković, Claudia Fancello, Dejan Štifanić, Luca d’Agostino, Luc Vleminck, Marko Ercegović, Damir Žižić, Ctibor Bachratý, Mauricio Ferlin, Christophe Chemin, Juan Echeverry, Camilo Rivera, Matija Šćulac, A Editadas, Danilo Memedović and archival documentation (The Glas Istre archive, Archaeological Museum of Istria, Juan Echeverry, Circus Magazine and private archives)
Design: Maja Kolar and Tina Ivezić
Publisher: Umjetnička organizacija Oaza; Castropola d.o.o.

After the international presentation of the greatest achievements in book design from across the world as part of the Leipzig and Frankfurt book fairs, all selected books will be included among the holdings of the German Museum of Books and Writing, operating as part of the German National Library. The National and University Library in Zagreb congratulates the authors, designers, illustrators and publishers of the winning titles and thanks all who took part in the competition.