Meet the Judges for 2026!

The ABDA committee is thrilled to introduce this year’s esteemed panel of judges for the 2026 awards:

David Campbell @inksniffer (Creative Director and designer)
Duncan Blachford @duncanblachford (Designer and founder, Typography Studio)
Emi Chiba @echibaa (Designer)
Klarissa Pfisterer @pfisterer__freeman (Designer and co-founder, Pfisterer Freeman)
Mark Campbell @mrmarkcampbell (Designer and Creative director, Harper by Design)
Mary Callahan @marycallahandesign (Designer and educator)
Sandy Cull @sandyc_gogo @thedwellpress (Designer)
Sarah Mitchell @sarahkatemitchell (Illustrator and designer, Walker Books)
Tash Besliev @tash_besliev (Children’s Publisher, Simon & Schuster Australia)

With expertise spanning book design, illustration, graphic design, art direction, design education and publishing, these judges have meticulously examined this year’s entries to uncover the most exceptional designs of the past year.

Their scores are in, and the shortlist will be revealed soon!

Tash Besliev is the children’s publishing director at Simon & Schuster Australia, where she leads a vibrant children’s and young adult list across board books, picture books, junior fiction, middle grade and teen. With a track record of creating bestselling and award-winning titles, Tash is passionate about publishing books that combine creativity, quality, and strong market appeal. She previously headed children’s publishing at Affirm Press, where she helped shape one of Australia’s most successful independent lists.

Duncan Blachford is a Melbourne-based freelance book designer and founder of Typography Studio and Tempo Haus. He works alongside authors, editors, artists, art directors and publishers including Verso Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, Penguin Random House and the National Gallery of Victoria.

Mary Callahan has been designing books for more than 30 years. Her passion for this pursuit has resulted in a high profile throughout the publishing industry and is recognised by the many awards her book designs have received. In 2021, Mary was inducted into the ABDA Hall of Fame. Since expanding her practice, she designs for a wide range of clients including art galleries, museums and private clients.

President of ABDA from 2022 until 2024, Mary is also a sessional lecturer at RMIT.

David Campbell is a creative director and designer based in Lutrawita/Tasmania. Over the last 30 years, he has worked with many arts and cultural organisations, including Mona (Hobart), ACMI (Melb), the Melbourne Fringe, and TWT Arts Precinct (Syd). He has designed publications for artists including Marina Abramović, Cameron Robbins, Angela Tiatia, Jean-Luc Moulène and Tai Snaith, as well as catalogues for The Red Queen, The Story of O, and Setting the Scene. He also created and designed the “Art from Mona” book series.

Alongside his book design, he works as a branding designer and art director (mostly in the whisky field), public artist and occasional lecturer.

Mark Campbell is the Creative Director at HarperCollins ANZ where he runs the award-winning HarperCollins Design Studio and publishes books under the Harper by Design imprint. A past President of ABDA, he has worked across theatre, film, animation and publishing for companies like Bazmark Inq., Animal Logic and Bangarra Dance Theatre. He has also been a guest presenter for AGDA, UTS, RMIT and AdobeMAX as well as a committee member of industry initiatives like Open Book and Australia Reads.

Emi Chiba is a Freelance graphic designer and illustrator. Winner of the 2025 Deb Brash Emerging Designer Award, Emi brings her enthusiasm for typography and illustration to books and brands. Previously at Evi-O.Studio, Emi believes in the importance of developing an eye for detail and being able to bring a high level of craft to her work.

Sandy Cull has been designing books for over thirty years, with twelve of those in-house at Penguin. Freelance since 2006, Sandy designs across several genres but most recently focuses on literary fiction and non-fiction. Sandy has been a judge for the Illustrators Australia awards, a regular guest-speaker and panelist at literary festivals, a committee member for The Footpath Library, a founding committee member of ABDA and more recently a committee member for the Williamstown Literary Festival. In 2011 Sandy was inducted into the Australian Publishing Association Hall of Fame for her contribution to the industry.

Sarah Mitchell is a Sydney based illustrator and designer, specialising in children’s publishing. She is currently the Head of Design at Walker Books Australia and has extensive prior experience working for a range of publishers, including Scholastic Australia, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing and HarperCollins. With a background in Fine Arts, Sarah embraces opportunities to draw on her artistic skillset when illustrating junior and YA fiction covers. Early in her career, she had the honour of being shortlisted for the CBCA’s Crichton Award for new illustrators for her debut picture book, Starry Starry Night.

Klarissa Pfisterer is a Naarm/Melbourne based designer specialising in publication design. Klarissa has worked across design, branding and packaging in small and large studios in Australia and London. After establishing the design partnership Pfisterer + Freeman, Klarissa has created book projects for individuals with ideas or stories to tell and for publishers throughout Australia. She believes that the sharing of thoughts and imaginings through books and design is a meaningful and enduring use of her skills.

Past projects include print, exhibition and publication design for Australian state libraries, galleries, governments, museums, university presses, chefs, gardeners and artists, spanning a wide range of diverse and compelling subjects. Her work has received recognition from AGDA, MADC, APA and ABDA.