Do you ever think about the way a book was put together when you pick it up? What made you pick up one book ahead of the title beside it? The design of books to enhance the words and pictures in them is an art in itself and this is celebrated each year in the BPANZ Book Design Awards. The shortlist for the 2009 awards has just been announced.
“The finalists we have chosen are representative of a very fertile collaboration between New Zealand publishers and designers. In all cases, a good text has been enhanced by a designer's sensitive and creative response,” says Peter Gilderdale, Convenor of Judges for 2009.
Gilderdale, along with other judges Graham Beattie and Guy Somerset, found it difficult to shortlist three books in each category. Gilderdale admits, “Judging these awards proved really tough because of the surfeit of exceptionally well-designed books to choose from.”
The competition is judged in five general categories, with a winner for the highly coveted Best Book and Best Cover chosen from the shortlist. The awards will be announced at a ceremony on 3 September, along with a new award for the Awa Press Young Designer of the Year.
The awards help promote excellence in, and provide recognition for, the best book design in New Zealand. They are sponsored by BPANZ, in association with the New Zealand Listener and Publishing Press.
Finalists for the 2009 BPANZ Book Design Awards are as follows:
Scholastic New Zealand Award for Best Children’s Book
The Apple (Sarah Healy )
The Were-Nana (Sarah Nelisiwe Anderson )
Piano Rock: A 1950s Childhood (Gavin Bishop)
Hachette New Zealand Award for Best Non-Illustrated Book
Doubtless: New and Selected Poems (Sam Hunt)
Collected Poems (C K Stead)
Diggers Hatters & Whores (Stevan Eldred-Grigg)
Random House New Zealand Award for Best Illustrated Book
Ladies, A Plate (Alexa Johnston)
Mates & Lovers: A History of Gay New Zealand (Chris Brickell)
White Silence (Grahame Sydney)
Pearson Award for Best Educational Book
Excellence in Biology III (Martin Hanson)
Saying What you See (Alison Annals, Abby Cunnane and Sam Cunnane)
Through a Gap in the Fence: Journal of Secondary Students' Writing and Visual Arts 2008 (Ministry of Education)
G.A. Pindar & Son Award for Best Typography
How to Look at a Painting (Justin Paton)
Into the Wider World: A Back Country Miscellany (Brian Turner)
Certain Words Drawn (John Reynolds)
Check in the Rodney Libraries catalogue or on the shelves of your local Rodney Library for these books (some of which are also short-listed for the Montana Book Awards) and see what sets them apart.
source NZ Booksellers
2 comments:
It would be great if you could list the designers next to the titles - they are the ones being shortlisted for their design work. Thanks.
Good point. I will fix that up and give the designers the kudos they deserve. Thanks for keeping us honest.
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