VANCOUVER—The entry process has opened for the 31st Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design. Books designed and printed in Canada and published in 2012 can be entered in the categories of Children's, Limited Editions, Pictorial, Poetry, Prose: Fiction, Prose: Non-fiction, Prose: Non-fiction (Illustrated), and Reference.

The Alcuin Society is a Vancouver-based not-for-profit outfit in "support and appreciation of fine books."

Sitting on the judges' panel this year will be Quebec-based freelance book design Marvin Harder, Vancouver-based freelance book designer Naomi MacDougall, and Ontario's Will Reuter, book designer, typographer and founder of Aliquando Press. The Alcuin Society announced earlier this year that Rueter would receive the Alcuin Society's 2013 Robert R. Reid Award and Medal for lifetime achievement in the book arts.

According to Alcuin info, "judging is based on the suitability of design concept in relation to the intellectual nature of the content and the intended audiences." Judges will take into account colour, type, illustration and photography, as well as stock, jacket, binding, and overall finish.

The criteria for the Limited Editions category has been tweaked this year to include entries with unbound pages, and to specify that "both letterpress and digital printing qualify," and "there must be at least three copies produced in one edition for the project to qualify."

For more on the changes to the Limited Editions category, as well as general criteria and entry fees, download the official call for entries here.

Submissions must be received by March 1, 2013. The awards will be held March 23, in Vancouver. A list of last year's winners in available on Design Edge.