- Call for Entries
- AI-AP
- Latin American
- Motion
- AP Open
- The Books
- Book Order
- Juries, Designers & Covers
American Illustration 40
Presenting the year's best illustration collection in hardcover that embodies with insight and clarity the power, emotion, advocacy and action from 2020.
Order your discount copy here
Order your discount copy here
Under the creative direction of Kelly Doe, The New York Times, American Illustration 40 is produced with an exposed spine. The cover art is by Vivienne Flesher who also created artwork for the opening title pages along with a memorial gatefold pullout 2020 timeline poster.
At 400 pages, AI40 includes 378 images selected by our jury of art and design experts:
Gail Anderson, Chair, BFA Design and BFA Advertising SVA, Jury Chair
Antonio Alcalá, Art Director, Studio A, USPS Stamp Development
Bashan Aquart, Executive Creative Director, AKA/NYC
Lynne Carty, Art Director, Wall Street Journal
Debora Cheyenne Cruchon, Art Director, BUCK
Bobby C. Martin Jr., co-Founder, Champions Design
Neeta Patel, Designer, The New Yorker
Chris Rukan, Design Director, Opinion, The Washington Post
Jackie Seow, VP, Executive Director of Art, Trade Division, Simon & Schuster
Faith Stafford, Senior Art Director, Entertainment Weekly
Breath: Fought for by those afflicted during the pandemic; endangered by raging wildfires; choked by police brutality; and empowered those who took to the streets with cries for equality and justice.
Showcasing the finest illustrators who captured the pain, sacrifice, solace, beauty and outrage that was the relentless 2020 news cycle for top publications and agencies, AI40 is elegantly produced one image or story per page.
See all the AI40 winning images in The ARCHIVE.
American Illustration 40. To have and to hold.
After our big, triumphant book launch in November, we expected to receive the quantity of books from the printer in Hong Kong in December. Arrival was then pushed to January, and then on the 14th we got a call from the freight forwarder and “our hearts kinda sank.”
We were notified, in characteristically dull language, that the MADRID BRIDGE, the ship carrying our books, experienced a container collapse while crossing the North Atlantic and some 60 containers went overboard. Another 80 containers were damaged.
[In another strange twist of fate, the same vessel was also carrying the AP37books that had been printed in Singapore, go figure].
The damaged ship was rerouted from NY to Charleston for inspection and that's when the waiting game really took hold. Week after week the ETA in Port of NY was delayed and pushed back, with no word on the status of the cargo.
Fast forward to March 1st, our ship finally arrived, but still with no confirmation if our books were safe on board or lost at sea. We played along and followed routine customs clearance procedures, sent our trucking company to the warehouse in NJ to pick up, and voila, our books were there!
We’re happy to say we have received them and ready to finally fulfill your order. Now, please bear with us, as Amazon we ain’t. Mauricio and I alone with wrap, pack and ship as fast as we can, so we appreciate even more of your patience and understanding.
Thanks so much for holding on with us as we sorted through this bizarre maritime ordeal. There are certainly much more serious things happening in the world right now, but we are very relieved and excited to get the American Illustration 40 book, showcasing the best work from 2020 out into the world and into your hands.