V&A Illustration Awards 2009: Published Category

The 2009 Published award categories were judged by Miss Patricia Routledge CBE - actress, Lionel Shriver - author and journalist, Phil Cleaver - Creative Director of etal-design, and Mark Jones - Director of the V&A.

Winning illustrations are chosen from editorial publications, children's books, adult illustrated books and book covers.

Illustrated Book Award and 2009 Overall Winner

Tom Burns

'I was inspired by the city itself - the iconic imagery related to New York, the vibrancy of day to day life. In fact so much culture and art come from the city it wasn't very hard to find inspiration at all'.

Tom Burns is 2009's Overall Winner for his work for the Folio Society on the very first illustrated edition of New York Trilogy. The judges commented that these illustrations make  great use of colour, capturing the city in a very fresh and original way. They felt the images integrate perfectly with the text and manage to evoke a variety of sensations such as loneliness, complicated relationships and a sense of speed.

Burns gained a Masters degree at Kingston University and is based in London. His work embraces the digital process, combining it with the use of photography, paint and print techniques. He now works for a wide range of clients in the UK and USA, notably The Financial Times, The Boston Globe, CNN, John Brown Publishers and The Guardian.

Visit Tom Burns' website

Visit The Folio Society's website

Book Cover Award

Swava Harasymowicz

Independent artist Swava Harasymowicz  won a Student Prize in the 2005 V&A Illustration Awards and as a result was spotted by Penguin Books who commissioned her to create cover artwork for titles in the Penguin Classics series. This year, her work for Penguin has won her the  V&A Book Cover Award. In addition, she is 2009's  winner of the V&A Editorial Award.

The judges felt that Harasymowicz's cover image for Eugene Onegin cleverly deals with  the reader's aversion to seeing a fixed picture of a character, which they often prefer to imagine for themselves. Although the figure's head is missing from the image, it does not feel in any way incomplete. Harasymowicz describes this work as a 'semi-melodramatic image of a dandy's 'badge of honour''.

Harasymowicz grew up in Krakow, Poland surrounded by its rich variety of architectural styles from early Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, to Modernist and totalitarian Communist structures. She moved to London in 1998 and graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2006. Since then she has collaborated with Krakow Poster Gallery designing non-commercial limited edition posters exhibited in China, Teheran and Warsaw, and worked on selected commissions and publications, such as a graphic novel based on Sigmund Freud's Wolf Man case to be published by Self Made Hero. Her main artistic focus is on her own projects, using drawing, photography and screen printing.

Visit Swava Harasymowicz's website

Editorial Award

Swava Harasymowicz

Independent artist Swava Harasymowicz  won a Student Prize in the 2005 V&A Illustration Awards and as a result was spotted by Penguin Books who commissioned her to create cover artwork for titles in the Penguin Classics series. This year, she is winner of the V&A Editorial Award. In addition, her work for Penguin has won her 2009's V&A Book Cover Award.

The powerful drawing style and effective use of empty space drew the judges to 'Putting Daisy Down'. They felt that this image  conveys a strong sense of narrative  and immediately gives the viewer an idea of what the story is about. Harasymowicz says that her aim for the piece was 'not to crowd the space with decoration, but emotional distance.'

Harasymowicz grew up in Krakow, Poland surrounded by its rich variety of architectural styles from early Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, to Modernist and totalitarian Communist structures. She moved to London in 1998 and graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2006. Since then she has collaborated with Krakow Poster Gallery designing non-commercial limited edition posters exhibited in China, Teheran and Warsaw, and worked on selected commissions and publications, such as a graphic novel based on Sigmund Freud's Wolf Man case to be published by Self Made Hero. Her main artistic focus is on her own projects, using drawing, photography and screen printing.

View Swava Harasymowicz's website