Don't judge a book by its cover, your parents always told you. That's bad advice if you want to collect or sell books. It's especially bad advice if you want to design books.

To learn just how foolish that particular piece of wisdom can be, stop by the Marriott Library at the University of Utah and view the latest display from the American Institute of Graphic Art. There you will see 100 examples of books judged on how they look. They are winners of a national competition called "50 Books/50 Covers."

These books were selected for their looks and also, equally important, for how they are constructed, said Gabriela Mirensky, who directs contests and exhibits for AIGA. In other words, those who judge books are looking for a great body as well as a great face. Your parents would weep.

The content of the AIGA-winning books ranges from the simple ("The Vowels" is a children's book about a, e, i, o. . . . ) to the factual ("The Chicago Manual of Style") to the literary ("The O. Henry Prize Stories").

The AIGA has been awarding these prizes for 90 years. At first the awards were for the entire package — cover and construction — the 50 most well-designed books of the year. Eventually the graphic artists added another contest for covers only. Six years ago, the AIGA combined the two contests into one called "50 Books/50 Covers."

The traveling exhibit now open at the U.'s Special Collections Gallery features books published in 2003. They were judged in 2004 and displayed, initially, at the New York City gallery of the AIGA.

Meanwhile the AIGA winners of 2004 have just been announced and when that exhibit opens in New York in September, it will include two Utah publishers — Red Butte Press of Salt Lake City and DIMI Press of Provo. (The University of Utah hopes to host the AIGA 2004 winners traveling exhibit next year at this time.)

Recently, the Deseret Morning News spoke to three Utahns who know something about book covers. We spoke to a collector, a seller and a book-cover designer. The designer is an artist who lives in Provo and who just happens to have won the AIGA contest the past two years in a row.

Her book covers are borne of love, said Linda Sullivan. Unlike most of the winners of the AIGA awards, Sullivan's books are not commercial products, she explains. They are letterpress limited editions. They are small and personal. She creates them in response to the children's stories her husband likes to tell.

Even though she is the chairwoman of the visual-arts department at Brigham Young University, Sullivan doesn't claim to be an illustrator. Actually, "I'm an insecure illustrator," she said. She does admit that having her last two book covers chosen among the 50 best in the United States has helped with her insecurities.