The DGLAB announced that in the 8th edition of the award, special mentions were given, each worth 1,500 euros, to the Macedo Cannatà studio for the design of the book ‘Os Ovários das Papoilas’ and to Sofia Gonçalves for the design of “Problemas do Primitivismo – a partir de Portugal”.
Ninety-eight titles were submitted to the competition and evaluated by a jury comprising Ana Catarina Silva, Joana Baptista Costa, Sofia Santos, and Susana Carvalho.
Regarding “dança não dança”, unanimously distinguished, the jury noted, “it is an editorial project proposing a reading experience based on the performativity of the object, handling the complexity of the contents, with various typologies and specifics as a playful, open, and participatory proposal.”
“Despite the use of common materials, the graphic production was skillful and surprising,” the jury further remarked about the book accompanying the exhibition “dança não dança: archaeologies of new dance in Portugal,” displayed until January at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
On the book “Os Ovários das Papoilas,” resulting from the exhibition of the same name held in 2018 at Sismógrafo in Porto, with texts and drawings by Isabel Carvalho and Clara Batalha, designed by Macedo Cannatà studio, the jury described it as an “object not to be overlooked, despite the book’s small scale and apparent fragility, requiring readers to handle it as if it were a flower.”
Regarding “Problemas do Primitivismo – a partir de Portugal”, designed by Sofia Gonçalves, also a catalogue of the corresponding exhibition, the jury stated it was “exquisite in its conception and planning – from the page layout, through the arrangement and juxtaposition of images, to the typographic details.”
Besides the winner and special mentions, the jury selected another 17 books, which the DGLAB will submit to the international Best Book Design from all over the World competition in 2026 in Germany.
The Book Design Award aims to “give visibility to a set of professional activities related to the printed book, such as design and the graphic industry, while also enabling the submission of Portuguese books to the prestigious Best Book Design from all over the World.”
The results of this competition will be announced at the beginning of 2026, with awards being presented during the Leipzig International Book Fair in March, where candidate books from all countries will be on display.
All candidate books will be exhibited again in October 2026 at the Frankfurt International Book Fair, notes DGLAB.
