Alison Forbes

Alison Forbes (born 1933) is an Australian book designer and illustrator with a career spanning five decades. She studied design at the Melbourne Technical College (now RMIT), graduating in 1953. After working at the Melbourne Herald, she became the first staff designer at Melbourne University Press at age 23. In 1963, she moved to London for three years, gaining experience with British publishers before returning to Australia in 1967. She worked full-time as a book designer until her retirement around 2005.

Forbes focused on creating high-quality designs without compromising for commercial gain, earning recognition for her contributions. Her awards include the Australian Book Publishers Association (ABPA) Books of the Year award in 1955 for Alan Marshall's *I Can Jump Puddles*, the Transfield Book Production Award in 1963 and 1968, and the Australian Publishers Association's Book of the Year Award in 1974-75. She received an ABPA Award of Honour in 1989 and was inducted into the Australian Book Designers Association Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Design Institute of Australia’s Hall of Fame in 2022.

Her notable works include designs for Robin Boyd's *The Australian Ugliness* (1960), Joan Lindsay's *Picnic at Hanging Rock* (1967), and Geoffrey Serle's *Robin Boyd: A Life* (1995). Her contributions have significantly impacted Australian cultural development.