Designer Yehrin Tong has been revealed today as the designer of this year’s BAMB Limited Edition Bag, which will be available exclusively in bookshops up and down the country from Bookshop Day on Saturday 5th October (#bookshopday).

Tong, who won the Beautiful Book Award at the Books are My Bag Readers Awards 2018 for the Virago Modern Classics 40th Anniversary series, joins a number of high profile artists and designers who have designed the Books Are My Bag campaign’s annual Limited Edition Bag – including Sir Peter Blake, Grayson Perry, Tracey Emin, Orla Kiely and Coralie Bickford-Smith.

Describing her design, Yehrin Tong said, “I wanted to use punctuation marks in an illustrative way; showing the beauty of the written word. I have used question marks, brackets and exclamation marks etc to create bold, floral motifs in the foreground. The pattern in the background references the curves of turning pages.”

On being asked to design the Bag, Tong commented, “It was a huge honour to be asked to design this year’s Books Are My Bag Limited Edition Bag. Bookshops played a huge part in me becoming an illustrator. As teenagers, my friends and I made a ritual of heading down to our local bookshop. We’d marvel at all the cool graphics on the covers and get excited about books by our favourite authors. Now I’m taking my son to bookshops, surrounding him with stunning graphics, introducing him to ideas from around the world and from different periods of time. I know it will fire up his imagination in the same way it did for me. It’s an experience I hope will continue for generations.”

Books Are My Bag’s Emma Bradshaw commented: “I am thrilled that Yehrin accepted our invitation to design the 2019 Limited Edition Bag. As the winning illustrator of last year’s Beautiful Book category at the BAMB Readers Award we knew that booksellers loved her work. Yehrin’s illustrations for the Virago Modern Classics 40th anniversary series were simply stunning and immediately made us think that she was someone we wanted to work with. Her use of line and pattern is exquisite and she has executed the brief perfectly. It’s a design guaranteed to drive customers into bookshops to purchase. I can’t wait to get my hands on the finished bag!’

Now in its seventh year, the Books Are My Bag campaign showcases and celebrates the vital role of high street bookshops. Since its inception, more than a million people have worn a Books Are My Bag canvas bag in support of bookshops and the campaign. 

This year’s BAMB Children’s Bag is inspired by best-selling author and illustrator David McKee’s beloved Elmer the Patchwork Elephant and will likewise be available exclusively from bookshops. 

For more information visit www.booksaremybag.com and follow @booksaremybag