Book Design Awards Best Illustrated Book: The Life and Love of Trees
Designer Cameron Gibb
Random House New Zealand Award for Best Illustrated Book: PANZ Book Design Awards 2010
JUDGES’ COMMENTS
Considering the high number of entrants in this category, it is a given that all finalists have a well-resolved grid, great typography and a well-handled cover. Over and above these, however, all three books have major strengths.
Marti Friedlander’s rich, dark and evocative photographs demand sensitive interpretation, and the design presents them with deft typographic grace. The cover, velvet to the touch, is simple and arresting, whilst inside, the grid supports, but never overwhelms, the photographs. The main contrast to the dominant black and white aesthetic is the bright blue jacket, which introduces a real element of surprise.
In contrast to this primarily tonal book, the challenge in Villa was to both celebrate and control Patrick Reynolds’ sumptuous and brightly coloured images, and the exacting standards of the photographs are here perfectly complemented by a vibrant yet supportive design. The two-colour captions are the key to integrating the text and images, and the headings (in Trajan) perfectly evoke the heritage aspects of the subject matter. A highly flexible grid allows for constant surprises as one moves from spread to spread, whilst maintaining a thoroughly coherent design ethos.
Villa’s sensitivity to grouping images together for maximum impact is equally evident in The Life & Love of Trees. This book, quite simply, has a massive ‘wow factor’. This is partly due to the quality of the photos, but it also stems from the design, the simplicity of which belies some wonderful decision-making. Tempting as an elegant serif for the text must have been, it would have been too much of a good thing. The round sans serif provides an ideal foil to the sophistication of the photos, and there is a series of similarly skilful decisions, such as the rhythmic endpaper design periodically appearing throughout the book. This book does not need much explanation. It is a unanimous winner.
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Spencer Levine (cover) and Katrina Duncan (interior) for Marti Friedlander by Leonard Bell
Fiona Lascelles for Villa by Patrick Reynolds, Jeremy Hansen and Jeremy Salmond
DESIGNER’S COMMENT
The design approach is one of simplicity, with close attention to detail, to create a book that is both informative and an objet d’art. The sheer volume of material presented a significant design challenge. Ultimately, the images proved to be the heroes and the book’s large format reproduced them to maximum effect.
TITLE The Life & Love of Trees by Lewis Blackwell
PUBLISHER PQ Blackwell/ Hachette NZ
FORMAT 305mm x 305mm, 200pp,jacketed hardback with printed, debossed case and printed endpapers
