Baltimore-based artist Raquel Castedo has been named a winner of AIGA’s 50 Books|50 Covers of 2025, one of the longest-running and esteemed book design competitions in the United States.
American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) recognized Castedo’s book design for “Shabtis Gather: Jackie Milad” — a publication by Baltimore-based artist Jackie Milad — for outstanding design and the book was added to Columbia University’s permanent collection. Castedo is a Brazilian designer, researcher, and educator who moved to Baltimore to study as a visiting scholar at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
She is now a creative director for BmoreArt and teaches publication design at MICA. Milad is a Baltimore-based artist who has been in group and solo exhibitions around the world. Local exhibitions appeared at The Walters Art Museum, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland, and at museums in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
Castedo’s book design was chosen by a jury from 536 entries from 29 countries. It will become part of the AIGA collection at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University’s Butler Library in New York, where winning selections are preserved for researchers, students, and future generations.
“Shabtis Gather: Jackie Milad” is a 200-page bilingual book with more than 150 images of Milad’s artwork, including paintings, sculptures, and collages. It includes essays by Dr. Alice Stevenson, Dr. Fatma Ismail, and Heba Abd el-Gawad, and English and Arabic translations exploring heritage, memory, and culture.
The book was developed as an extension of Milad’s studio practice, which is rooted in fragments, collected materials, and layered histories. Castedo used structure, typography, pacing, and material choices to create an intimate experience between the artwork and the reader.
“Jackie invited me into the project at its earliest stages, with a collection of artworks, research, and ideas,” Castedo said. “Together, we imagined a publication that could become an extension of her practice, carrying the same material thinking, intimacy, and layered storytelling into the hands of readers.”
