Swiss book "Heimat" awarded "Golden Letter
The Federal Office of Culture (FOC) has selected the 18 winners of this year's "The Most Beautiful Swiss Books" competition. Among them are four books that will be honored at the international "Most Beautiful Books from Around the World" competition. "Homeland. Craft and the Utopia of the Everyday" will be honored with the highest award. The Jan Tschichold Prize, which recognizes excellence in book design, goes this year to printer Che Huber.
Every year, the BAK organizes the competition "The Most Beautiful Swiss Books". It honors excellence in book design and production, focusing in particular on works that express contemporary trends. The 18 most beautiful books of 2017 were awarded by the BAK on the recommendation of the five-member jury presided over by Gilles Gavillet.
Printer Che Huber awarded
Since 1997, the BAK has awarded the Jan Tschichold Prize to a personality, a group or an institution for outstanding achievements in book design. The jury awards this prize independently of the "The Most Beautiful Swiss Books" competition. This year, the Jan Tschichold Prize, endowed with 25,000 Swiss francs, goes to Che Huber.
Che Huber was born Josef Huber in Zug in 1954 and spent part of his childhood in the family print shop. In 1972, he left school and family to travel and then completed his training as a printer in the USA. Back in Switzerland, he got a job as a printer in Geneva in 1986.
At the beginning of the 2000s, he founded the Noir sur Noir print shop in Les Acacias (GE). A successful collaboration begins with Christophe Cherix from Cabinet des Estampes in Geneva and with Lionel Bovier from JRP Editions. Che Huber has already won several awards at the competition "The most beautiful Swiss books", especially for his series on the Cabinet des Estampes.
In his experimental print work, he pushes the boundaries of traditional printing techniques such as hot printing while trying out new processes. His craftsmanship fascinates the generation of young graphic designers, who gladly draw on his equipment and expert knowledge. Che Huber is not only a custodian and transmitter of knowledge, but also a major player in contemporary publishing.
"Most beautiful books from all over the world" in Leipzig
From February 8 to 10, the Stiftung Buchkunst (Book Art Foundation) held its annual "Most Beautiful Books from Around the World" competition in Leipzig. An international jury examined some 600 books from 33 countries that had already won awards at national competitions. Switzerland was one of the six countries honored and this year received the highest award, the "Golden Letter" for the book Heimat. Handwerk und die Utopie des Alltäglichen (book design: Hubertus Design, Jonas Voegeli and Scott Vander Zee, Zurich). The books documenta 14: Daybook (book design: Julia Born & Laurenz Brunner, Zurich) and Autonomy on A4 (book design: Atlas Studio, Zurich) each won a bronze medal, and First things first (book design: Norm, Zurich) won an honorary diploma.
The award ceremony for the "Most Beautiful Books from Around the World" will take place as part of the Leipzig Book Fair on March 16, 2018. The vernissage of the exhibition at the Helmhaus in Zurich will take place on June 21, 2018, together with the honoring of the Jan Tschichold Award winner. Subsequently, the exhibition will travel through Switzerland and abroad.
