In 2025, the DAFES AWARDS announce 4 cooperative nominations dedicated to printed and electronic and children’s and adult book design in collaboration witg the spring non/fictioN fair
About DAFES AWARDS
We established the international competition program DAFES AWARDS to encourage creative achievements, share experiences and form guidelines for professional development in design, art, fashion, education and business.
DAFES AWARDS is awarded in five profiles, 20 categories and 80 nominations, as well as various partner nominations that we form together with educational and creative institutions.
About the non/fictioN fair
The biggest international fair of intellectual literature in Russia called non/fictioN has been held every year since 1999. Since 2022, it takes place twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn.
non/fictioN gathers the best pieces of fiction, non-fiction and popular science, has been visited by 45 000 people, worked with 400 publishing houses, and held 300 events during the fair!
About the nomination
What should a children’s book be like in the modern, interactive world, provided that the average focus time of a child on the screen is 2-3 seconds?
The task of this nomination is to search for new mechanics and techniques of storytelling in a digital format for a children’s audience.
Terms of participation
Both concepts and projects realized or published between November 1, 2023 and March 15, 2025 are accepted for the professional nominations.
Proof of publication/implementation is not required for a project to participate in the competition, but the jury may request confirmation through the competition organizers in disputed cases.
Requirements to projects
— the presentation of the project should give a clear idea of the book, its structure, design; — it is important to emphasize the conformity of the applied graphic, compositional, typographic and constructive solutions; — it is necessary to provide a brief description of the concept of the publication; — the presentation should show the internal mechanics of the project and its justification (transitions between screens, animations) — The book implemented on the platform contains at least 16 screens and 4 animated elements
All projects are submitted to the competition in the format of a longread-format report created on the DAFES platform.
Jury
Anna Sarukhanova is the coordinator of the basic course «Animation and Illustration» at the HSE School of Design.
Vasily Kistyakovsky is the curator of the Master’s degree in Illustration and Comics at the HSE School of Design. Co-founder of the comic book store «Chook and Geek» and the publishing house Jellyfish Jam, translator («Mouse. The Survivor’s Story», «Here», «Blankets», «Palestine», etc.).
Julia Blucher is the head of the «Comics» and «Illustration» specializations in the direction of «Animation, Illustration, computer Graphics» at the HSE School of Design. An artist, a researcher.
Ksenia Annenko is the curator of the Animation, Illustration, Computer Graphics department at the HSE School of Design.
Anna Znamenskaya is the curator of the Animation, Illustration, and Computer Graphics department at the HSE School of Design.
Yaroslav Subbotin is a lecturer in the field of Communication Design and Branding at the HSE School of Design. Designer, worked at GD Studio and the Tochka Design School.
Referenсes
Registering and uploading a project
The step-by-step way to create an account and create a project on the platform to participate in the contest is described in the instructions.
Contacts