New Zealand’s best book designers were celebrated at this year’s PANZ Book Design Awards which saw an outstanding group of winners emerge from a strong field.

This year’s Supreme Winner was The Life and Love of Trees by Lewis Blackwell, designed by Cameron Gibb. It is a book in which, said awards judge Peter Gilderdale, “the design choices and content came together to yield a breathtaking result.”

See the full list of 2010 PANZ Book Design Awards winners.

Designer Cameron Gibb

Gerard Reid Award for Best Book: PANZ Book Design Awards 2010
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JUDGES’ COMMENTS

Lewis Blackwell’s The Life & Love of Trees is a combination of breathtakingly beautiful photographs and wonderfully written, elegant and accessible essays. It reaches the highest standards of international design and publishing, and will sit proudly on bookshelves all around the world.

Designer Sarah Laing

HarperCollins Award for Best Cover: PANZ Book Design Awards 2010

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

Like it or not, people often do judge a book by its cover, hence cover design is always a major element in the publishing process and can have a significant impact on its success or failure. Several of the best covers this year were to be found on fiction titles, with the winner and one highly commended title being from this genre.

Awa Press Young Designer of the Year: PANZ Book Design Awards 2010

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

Congratulations are due to all of the young designers who entered. They have found themselves a place in a small and particular market. That takes courage and passion. If these guys are the future book designers of New Zealand, the industry is in exciting hands.

Designers: Grant Sutherland, Mission Hall (interior), Robyn Sivewright, fineline (typesetting), Neil Pardington (cover)

Pindar Award for Best Typography: PANZ Book Design Awards 2010

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

The typography and non-illustrated book categories tend to overlap. However, since our choices in non-illustrated acknowledged several highly typographic books, we decided to look beyond these ‘pure’ books,and recognise the strongest type across all categories.

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.

Designers Keely O'Shannessy (cover), Katrina Duncan (interior)

Hachette New Zealand Award for Best Non-Illustrated Book: PANZ Book Design Awards 2010

JUDGES ’ COMMENTS

The non-illustrated book category this year had fewer strong non-fiction books, but this was counteracted by the quality in poetry and fiction. It was noticeable that production values sometimes let down otherwise well-designed books – an effect, perhaps, of the recession. The best of the category transcended the gloom, however, and the finalists are all highly effective in different ways.

Designer Book Design Limited

Pearson Award for Best Educational Book: PANZ Book Design Awards 2010

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

The educational book category attracted more entries than in 2009, and the quality of entries was fairly even. Educational books often have to get a lot of information into a constrained space, and this can lead to clutter when not handled well. The finalists all managed to combine well-sequenced information, solid typography and visual appeal.