Meet the Judges | 50th Annual PPN Book Show

Frances Baca is Principal of Frances Baca Design and Consulting in Berkeley, California. Her work focuses on editorial design, creative direction, and design consultation for both established and emerging businesses. Frances studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, and her work has been recognized by the James Beard Foundation, the Society of Publication Designers, the Association of University Presses, Graphic Design USA, the New England Book Show, and Bookbuilders West.

Debbie Berne is the owner of Debbie Berne Design in Oakland, California. She started creating books at Herter Studio in San Francisco in 2007, and since then has designed hundreds of book interiors and covers in a broad range of genres for publishers both large and small. Debbie shares her deep knowledge of the book design process in her book The Design of Books: An Explainer for Authors, Editors, Agents, and Other Curious Readers, forthcoming in 2023 with the University of Chicago Press.

Victor Mingovits is Art Director at Mingovits Design in New York City. His studio focuses on book design for a wide variety of publishing projects, from ideation to delivery of final printed books. Victor studied at the University of Gothenburg, and formerly worked at Mucca. His designs have been recognized by the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers, the Association of University Presses, Communication Arts Design Annual, Graphis Design Annual, and the Print Regional Design Annual.

Nyamekye Waliyaya is Production Director at Hachette Book Group in New York City. She leads a team in the management of printing and production for complex illustrated books, from manuscript to bound copies. Nyamekye formerly worked at Harper Collins Publishers and Simon & Schuster. She studied at Morgan State University.