Tin Can Country receives accolades

Arlington, VA – Fifty-two museum publications have gained accolades in the 29th annual Museum Publications Design Competition, presented by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). This competition recognizes and encourages superior execution and ingenuity in the graphic design of museum publications and is the only national, juried competition of its kind.

Tin Can Country: Southeast Alaska's Historic Salmon Canneries was given an Honorable Mention in the Book Design category. Published with the Clausen Museum, Tin Can Country shares the development of Southeast Alaska's salmon industry and how canneries serve as sites of Alaska history. A dozen contributors chart the story of Southeast Alaska as it manifests within regional salmon canneries, sharing history that ranges from the early establishment of canneries on Tlingit and Haida land, to how the industry was involved in World War I and World War II, to the story of Asian American Civil Rights. Much of the book is based on the writing of Patricia Roppel, with a treasure trove of illustrations coming from the collection of Karen Hofstad. The book features custom maps for each chapter, created by David Johnson. Anjuli Grantham served as editor and co-author. Sarah Asper-Smith of ExhibitAK in Juneau designed the book. "It was such a pleasure to design this book, and have access to Karen's beautiful collection of salmon can labels." Since then, Hofstad has generously donated much of her collection of salmon can memorabilia to the Alaska State Library and Museum.

This year winners were chosen from over 250 entries from the US and globally in 12 print media categories for their overall design excellence, creativity, and ability to express an institution's personality, mission, or special features.