InterVarsity Press (IVP) is pleased to congratulate creative director, David Fassett, for his work on eight designs that were chosen for the 2021 Top Shelf Book Cover Awards by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).

“The creative talent represented in the covers that won this year is impressive,” said Lorraine Caulton, IVP’s director of creativity and customer engagement. “IVP is honored to be a recipient, many times over this year, through the work of creative director, David Fassett. He is an outstanding talent, strong collaborator, and fun person to work with.”

Fassett joined IVP as a marketing designer in 2009, was promoted to senior graphic designer in 2014, and then appointed to the position of art director in May 2017. This fall he was named IVP’s creative director. Fassett said, “I think a book cover should truthfully and clearly communicate the gist of the book in a way that is visually compelling with the goal of moving the intended reader to pick up the book (or click on it). The cover should also serve as a visual reminder of the experience that the reader had with the book.”

 Fassett’s 2021 Top Shelf award-winning covers include

Charitable Writing: Cultivating Virtue Through Our Words by Richard Hughes Gibson and James Edward Beitler III

The Doctrine of Creation: A Constructive Kuyperian Approach by Bruce Riley Ashford and Craig G. Bartholomew

Forty Days on Being a One (Enneagram Daily Reflections series) by Juanita Campbell Rasmus 

“Here Are Your Gods”: Faithful Discipleship in Idolatrous Times by Christopher J. H. Wright

Mixed Blessing: Embracing the Fullness of Your Multiethnic Identity by Chandra Crane

No Longer Strangers: Finding Belonging in a World of Alienation by Gregory Coles

Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News by Jeffrey Bilbro

Voices and Views on Paul: Exploring Scholarly Trends by Ben Witherington III and Jason A. Myers

The ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award program recognizes design excellence in the Christian publishing industry. Submissions for this year’s awards represented a record-breaking year of wide participation among thirty-five publishing houses and imprints. Judges have the freedom to choose as many top designs as they feel are worthy from the submission pool. They selected a record number of thirty winners. This is the fourth year in a row that the number of winners has exceeded the previous years’ selections.

ECPA announced the winners of this year’s awards on November 12 during the closing session of Pub U Online. Winning book covers and judges’ comments are featured at TopShelfAward.org.