Culture: Chinese book acclaimed for design

Instead of using traditional printing paper to make a book, a Chinese publishing company is using wrapping paper, and the concept has paid off. It recently won the 2019 Best Book Design award in an international competition overseen by Stiftung Buchkunst in Leipzig, Germany. Old Trades of Jiangsu: A Glimpse, published by Jiangsu Phoenix Education Publishing Co, received an honorable mention. Stiftung Buchkunst has run the annual book design competition since 1991. Designers used cheap paper for the book, the kind used by old eateries for wrapping food, with black-andwhite pictures printed on pages with deckled edges. The book highlights a disappearing group of people — craftsmen skilled in old trades.