Woodrow Wilson Center Designer Wins Award for Best Illustrated Cover
WASHINGTON—The Washington Book Publishers 2008 Book Design and Effectiveness Competition, which held its awards ceremony on Tuesday, June 10, featured one Woodrow Wilson Center designer as a prize winner. Michelle Furman, visual information specialist at the Center, received a first-place award in the "Small- to Medium-Size Nonprofit Publishers, Illustrated Cover/Jacket" category for her design of Re-envisioning the Chinese Revolution: The Politics and Poetics of Collective Memories in Reform China (2007), edited by Ching Kwan Lee and Guobin Yang. Re-envisioning the Chinese Revolution is published by Woodrow Wilson Center Press in association with Stanford University Press.
In explaining her design choice, Michelle noted: "The book examines how different segments of the Chinese population remember the era from Japanese imperialism to the Cultural Revolution. Mao's image is perhaps the most recognizable visual from this period and was thus selected for the cover. This particular illustration was found in a farming village where it had been placed on the ‘god shelf' or miniature shrine."
The judges pointed to a number of successful design elements: "It is always a challenge to bring a fresh approach to using an iconic image such as this portrait of Mao," said Debra Naylor, head of Naylor Design, Inc. "Michelle used a very creative approach, tearing away at the image in the eye area to reveal a textured space beneath to hold the title and subtitle. The judges felt that this spoke to the ideas of‘re-envisioning' and ‘revolution'. The muted treatment of the image also helped to bring a different twist to this iconic figure."
"Michelle is a very gifted designer," said Joseph Brinley, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center Press. "In this case she took a complex book with many contributors and a somewhat wordy title and pulled it together through a recognizable but novel image and a clear presentation of type. We are very pleased that she earned this award."
Michelle Furman graduated from West Virginia University in 2001 with degrees in graphic design and political science. She then relocated to New York, where she worked for a small journal publishing group. She has been at the Wilson Center for almost four years.
