As the 2023 Golden Pinwheel call for entries drew to an end on 26 June, the CCBF-run illustration competition launched in 2015 once again confirmed it has won the confidence and attention of young illustrators all around the planet. This year's call for entries was shortened by one-third compared to previous years, but however, we received widespread attention and participation from illustrators and children's book creators around the world. With this year's upgrade, the two categories of "Book Publishing" and "Commercial Application" made the number of submissions continue to rise to a new high this year!
This year's competition received a total of 2,730 valid submissions from 79 countries and regions on six continents, with 2,730 valid submissions, including 1,964 in the Book Publishing Category and 766 in the Commercial Category. The total number of works reached 12,707, up 12.5% year-on-year compared to 2021. Among them, 60% of the submissions came from China and 40% from overseas countries and regions, once again confirming the growing scale and influence of the competition.
The top 10 countries and regions in terms of the number of submissions are China, Russia, Iran, Italy, Indonesia, Spain, the UK, Brazil, Poland and India. Among them, China, Russia and Indonesia are the three countries with the highest growth in the number of submissions. Surprisingly, new illustrators from Estonia, Greece, Kenya, New Zealand, Albania, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Ghana, Macedonia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Uzbekistan and Jordan were also added to the competition. In addition to individual submissions, 69 other publishers, design studios, industry associations and professional institutions from home and abroad participated in the competition in the name of their institutions.
The illustration works submitted this year are diverse in subject matter and innovative in theme, with highly individual artistic expressions, as well as self-exploration and true feelings. ...... In the first Commercial category, illustrations were richly used in different carriers, such as product design and packaging, event/theme posters, and editorials The book publishing category attracted a large number of excellent submissions, which used different techniques to reflect the high standard of illustration creators as well as their in-depth thinking and dedication to the content and themes of children's literature. These enthusiastic young illustrators' relentless pursuit of creativity not only brings fresh experience and vitality to the illustration and art industry but also will certainly contribute to the flourishing development of the children's book publishing industry and bring healthy and positive guidance and spiritual inspiration to the global art exchange and children's content creation.
Since last Friday, the competition has been in an intense judging phase for the finalists. The jury of nine renowned industry professionals with different professional backgrounds includes Suzanne Carnell (UK), Sai Chen (China), Marion Jablonski (France), Victo Ngai (US/HK China), Zumin Wang (China) in the Book Publishing category, and Ivan Canu (Italy), Victo Ngai (US/HK China), Emiliano Ponzi (Italy), Dongming Tian (China), Carrot Wu (China) in the Commerical category. 50 finalists will be selected from the submissions in each category (100 groups in total) through a blind judging process.
Let's wait for the announcement of the 100 finalist illustrators on September 5!
The 100 finalist groups of outstanding works will be presented at the 2023 Golden Pinwheel International Young Illustrators Competition Exhibition to be held concurrently at the Shanghai Children's Book Fair site this year, which will be held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center from November 17 to 19.
All finalists' works (including the Book Publishing category and Commercial category) will also be included in the "2023 Golden Pinwheel International Young Illustrator Competition Yearbook" and promoted among domestic and international children's book publishers, agents, editors, as well as major branding, art and advertising related professionals and commercial organizations, to bring more creative opportunities for outstanding young illustrators.
Winners will be announced during the Shanghai Children's Book Fair. In addition to the competition exhibition, the organizing committee will also present a series of professional activities designed for illustrators during the Shanghai Children's Book Fair:
- An Illustrators Survival Corner that includes forums, creative workshops and one-on-one portfolio reviews;
- The Young Illustrators Avenue for illustrators, artists and content creators, which combines business collaboration, learning exchange, industry socialization and product showcase. This year's recruitment will be launched soon, so stay tuned to the official information of the Shanghai Children's Book Fair!
The success of the 2023 Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Competition call for entries would not have been possible without the support of our numerous partners. A big thank you from all of us, and we look forward to having you back on board next year.
