Sir Kenneth Grange and Mike Dempsey design Folio Prize trophy

Royal Designers Sir Kenneth Grange and Mike Dempsey have collaborated on the design of the trophy for the inaugural Folio Prize for fiction.

Folio Prize award designed by Sir Kenneth Grange and Mike Dempsey

The £40,000 prize has been inaugurated by publisher the Folio Society which has positioned it as ‘the first major English-language book prize open to writers from all over the world.’

It was awarded to American writer George Saunders for his collection of short stories The Tenth of December at a ceremony in central London last night.

George Saunders collects his award last night
George Saunders collects his award last night

The trophy is a pentagon-shaped red leather bound, gold blocked case, with marbled interior, containing a letterpress certificate made by Wyvern Bindery. 

Dempsey says that he and Grange were appointed after Folio Prize prize administrator Suzy Lucas turned to her father Christopher Lucas who was director of Royal Society of Arts in the 1990s and recommended the pair in the summer of 2013.

Folio Prize award designed by Sir Kenneth Grange and Mike Dempsey

 ‘It’s the first time they’ve inaugurated this prize. The Folio Society is all about producing traditional books with a twist and we wanted to replicate that here,’ says Dempsey.

‘Ken [Grange] came up with the shape and then I looked at it from a decorative graphics design point of view,’ says Dempsey.

Folio Prize award designed by Sir Kenneth Grange and Mike Dempsey

The design was presented to the Folio Society and approved before a letterpress printer and calligrapher were sought.

Consultancies Sunday and Planning Unit have worked on the branding and look of The Folio Prize.

Folio Prize award designed by Sir Kenneth Grange and Mike Dempsey
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  • james Taylor November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Stunning design but also Beautiful hand-craftsmanship from http://www.kittyfarrow.com @KittyFarrow on behalf of the Wyvern Bindery

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