PRINCETON, NJ.- The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) honored a Princeton University Art Museum exhibition catalogue with its top publications design award for 2014. New Jersey as Non-Site won the 2014 Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize for Excellence in Publication Design—the “Franny,” or Best in Show—in this year’s highly competitive publications design contest, selected from among hundreds of publications from museums nationwide.

New Jersey as Non-Site accompanied the museum’s exhibition of the same name, which was the first comprehensive examination of New Jersey’s central role in avant-garde art in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The book, designed by Daphne Geismar, features an elegant use of typography and a distinctive “flush cut” binding that highlights its own physical construction—a nod to the work of the artists whose work is illustrated within.

A second Princeton University Art Museum publication, The Itinerant Languages of Photography, received an honorable mention in the category of exhibition catalogues. Designed by Miko McGinty and Rita Jules, the book utilizes typography, color and texture to evoke different aspects of photography’s capacity to converse across political, cultural and temporal boundaries. Both books were produced and published by the museum’s Publishing and Communications Department and are distributed by Yale University Press.

“The museum remains committed to producing fresh scholarship delivered in compelling ways,” notes Museum Director James Steward. “In the volume of books we develop each year we are essentially a small-scale publishing house but one that is able to take risks, and we are delighted to have our work singled out among all American museums in this way.”

For more than 25 years, AAM has recognized and encouraged excellence in the graphic design of museum publications through the Museum Publications Design Competition, the only national, juried competition of its kind. Winners are chosen for their overall design excellence, creativity and ability to express an institution’s personality, mission or special features. The panel of judges—graphic designers, museum professionals and publishers—sought out the best in graphic design in 12 different categories. Competing institutions are divided according to budget: museums with annual operating budgets under $750,000 and those with budgets of $750,000 or more. This year’s competition received 404 entries from 92 museums across the country.

A complete list of AAM publications award winners is available on the AAM website