Jury 2020
Special guest, president
David McKee
Illustrator, writer
David McKee was born in England in 1935. An internationally renowned illustrator, he has published more than two hundred books, translated into 50 languages around the world. In 1964 he published his first book: Two can Toucan, and later gave birth to many characters who became famous in the world of illustration and animation, the most famous of which is Elmer, the Patchwork Elephant, but also King Rollo and Mr. Benn. The numerous books narrating the adventures of Elmer, all published by Andersen Press, have been translated into more than 20 languages and the elephant has been reproduced on games, gadgets and game books. Other very successful books have accompanied David McKee’s career, such as Two monsters, Tree monsters and Not now Bernard!. Today David McKee lives and works between London and Arles, in the south of France.
La giuria
Andrea Berretta
Graphic designer – Editor in-chief Picame Mag
From over 10 years I work in the field of graphic design and communication. In 2008 I’ve created created Picame. Today I combine my role of editor in chief of the magazine with my career as designer and art director at FARGO, a communication agency I’ve founded in 2013.
Debbie Bibo
Literary agent and editorial producer
Debbie Bibo is a literary agent and editorial producer of children’s picture books and illustrated books. Born and raised in California, she moved to Milan in 1992 and worked for years in the field of art publishing before founding her agency in 2011. The agency represents and promotes an eclectic selection of debut and award-winning authors and illustrators, who come from all over the world. She is an editorial consultant to some international museums and holds lectures on picture books and the illustrated book market at Mimaster in Milan, the Europe Institute of Design and the Ars in Fabula School in Macerata.
Davide Bonazzi
Illustrator
Davide Bonazzi has been working as freelance illustrator for major publishers, advertisers and institutions including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Science, GQ, Variety, Gatorade, Nike, UNESCO, Roche, Emergency and over 200 others worldwide. Born and raised in Bologna, Italy, first earning a degree at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Bologna, he also studied Illustration in Milan at IED – European Institute of Design and at the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna. Davide aims to create clever visual solutions to represent complex topics, as well as narrative, witty images. His style combines digital media with textures of scanned found objects, in order to give his illustrations a warm and evocative atmosphere. His work has been recognized by The Society of Illustrators of New York, Communication Arts, American Illustration, 3×3 ProShow (Bronze medal 2018), Folio (Ozzie Award 2017), Bologna Children’s Book Fair, Creative Quarterly, Hiii Illustration (Grand Prix 2017), World Illustration Awards. He has been featured in Lürzer’s Archive 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide 2016/17 and 2018/19.
Nicoletta Ceccoli
Illustrator
She was born and still live in Republic of San Marino. She graduated from the State Institute of Art in Urbino (Italy) in the section of animation. She is working as illustrator of children’s book since 1995 and she illustrated noumerous books with USA, UK, Italian Swiss and Taiwanese publishers, among her clients: Random House, Mondadori, Simon and Shuster, Barefoot Books, Greem Press, Fabbri, Arka, Fatatrac, Europacorp, Macy, Diesel, Houghton Mifflin, Henry Holt, Mc Cann Lowe, United Airlines, Vogue. In 2008 she worked as character designer for a 3d French animation project “La mecanique du couer” with the direction of Mathias Melzieau and the production of Luc and Silla Besson. Her works were shown in prestigious collections throughout the world.
Francesco Fidani
Illustrator, winner of the 15th edition of the Tapirulan illustrators contest
Francesco Fidani was born in Rome in 1991 an he works as a freelance visual designer. After several years of study and work as a product designer, he decided to shift his attention to the field of illustration by starting a master at ISIA in Urbino. In those years he developed a strong aptitude for “fine art” printing techniques and research on local cultures and cities, aimed at communicating the identity of the territory. In 2017 he started the “Tothem Tour” project, which aimed to bring the cutting and printing technique out of the studio with public performances and seminars in the main Italian cities. In 2019 he won the fifteenth edition of the Tapirulan illustrators contest.
Melania Gazzotti
Freelance curator and art historian
Melania Gazzotti is an art historian, with a particular interest in graphic design and illustration. From 2004 to 2010 she worked for the Mart Museum in Rovereto. In 2013 she was awarded by the Guggenheim Foundation a fellowship that gave her the opportunity of working for the Guggenheim Museums in New York, Bilbao and Venice. In 2015 she worked for Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA), New York and in 2016 she was awarded by Yale University a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellowships. She is currently collaborating with the Italian Cultural Institute, New York.
Gaia Stock
Editor Edizioni EL, Emme Edizioni, Einaudi for childrens
Gaia Stock was born in Trieste and returned to live in Trieste after a twenty-year interlude in Venice. She studied architecture but is now a publisher of children’s books. Boys she knows a bit, having three of them, all teenagers.
Fabio Toninelli
President of Associazione Tapirulan
It was at high school that Fabio Toninelli developed his current passions: illustration, music and narrative. So at university, he enrolled in Economics and Commerce, thinking that the double game, marketing plans and codes of commercial law, would stimulate his creativity. In fact, he turned his interest to graphic design and photography. After earning his degree he founded Tapirulan along with some friends. Tapirulan became an association, a publishing house, a gallery, a library. He has collaborated with public institutions, festivals, museums and galleries.