CALL 2025 - design oriented publications „Fine Companions“

Deadline: Wednesday, Mar 18, 2026, 11:00am

The Rectorate is now opening the call for submissions for new, design-oriented volumes of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. The call is aimed at employees (including project staff) and students of the Academy.

The new series of design-oriented publications, the “Fine Companions,” was created in close collaboration with the publishing house Mark Pezinger Books and Astrid Seme. The publishing house was founded by Thomas Geiger, who is an artist himself and Astrid Seme is a book designer. The first volume of "Fine Companions", Das Cathrin Pichler Archiv von RPU-Artaud-001 bis DAV-Plakate-029, was recently honored as one of Austria's most beautiful books. The series complements the publication series of the Academy and promotes artists books.

About the current call
The call focuses on submissions from the fields of fine arts, restoration, and architecture, that explore the possibilities of artist books. The selection process will take into account the relevance of the artistic production and the quality of the concept.

Particular attention will be paid to the plausibility of the project in relation to its editorial, formal, haptic, and sustainable interconnections within the publication. This series also aims to promote extraordinary ideas or projects. We therefore welcome submissions that depart from the classic book format and/or explore its boundaries.

To prepare for submissions, there will be an opportunity to participate in a workshop with Mark Pezinger Books:
Part 1 Presentation of the publisher's work, Thursday, 11.12.2025, 10:30 - 12 h, at the library (Schillerplatz)
Part 2 Individual discussions with Mark Pezinger Books on Friday 6.3.2026, 9 - 12 h, conference room
(Registration information to follow)

Students may submit entries provided that a teacher agrees to supervise the submission- and production process to ensure feasibility.

The projects will be financed to cover editing, printing, and layout costs.
Costs for author fees, translations, or image rights will not be covered.

The submitted project must be related to the academy (e.g., projects by staff and students, publications within the framework of research projects at the academy, or publications dealing with the history and/or structure of the academy).

Both anthologies and monographs can be submitted.

The language of the publication series will continue to be primarily English. However, German or bilingual publications are also possible.

As with the publication series, a jury composed of members of the publication advisory board and external members will select the winning submissions. The jury meeting will take place in April 2026.

Design and production will be carried out in close cooperation with the publisher and Astrid Seme.

The project should be ready to be published in the 2026 calendar year.

One to a maximum of two projects will be selected per call.

Submission documents:
These should include the following:

A clearly formulated proposal for the project plan, as well as
Ideas for the structure and excerpts from visual material, if available
Schedule for implementation

Submission format: one PDF, length: max. 30 pages, size: max. 5 MB,
file name: Last name_First name_Project name

Deadline: Wednesday, 18.3.2026, 11 a.m.
Submissions to: https://calls.akbild.ac.at/calls/PUBD25/

Information on the previously published “Fine Companions” volumes can be found at: https://www.akbild.ac.at/de/publikationen/gestaltungsorientierte-publikationen

We look forward to your submissions!

For further information please contact Stefanie Gutschi (s.gutschi@akbild.ac.at, 01588161003)

submission form

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