Outstanding shortlist announced for PANZ Book Design Awards

AUCKLAND, 3 May 2010. New Zealand’s exceptional book design talent is showcased in the shortlist announced today for the 2010 Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) Book Design Awards.

Designers “shape the way readers experience a book,” says Peter Gilderdale, one of the judges. “Authors provide the content, but the designer can either enhance or inhibit the way the book functions.”

The depth of talent made it difficult for Gilderdale, along with the other judges, Graham Beattie and Sharon Grace, to select 2010’s contenders Gilderdale adds, “The standard was very high and even — a wonderful mix of the vibrant and restrained, clever and crafted, quirky and traditional — this is great for book buyers but tough on judges!”

A new award for young designers introduced last year has proved spot on, with this year’s main category shortlist featuring all three 2009 Awa Press Young Designer of the Year finalists: Spencer Levine (winner), Keely O’Shannessy and Carolyn Lewis. Finalists for the 2010 Awa Press Young Designer of the Year Award will be announced on Thursday 3 June.

Levine is one of the designers who feature multiple times,  along with Kate Barraclough, and Sarah Laing, who has not only designed two of the books in the shortlist, but is also the author of one of them.

Ranging from the commercially successful New Zealand titles like The Wonky Donkey and A Treasury of New Zealand Baking to beautiful international titlesThe Life & Love of Trees and A Beautiful Game, this year’s shortlist illustrates the diversity of the New Zealand literary landscape.

The 2010 judging panel is Peter Gilderdale, Head of Graphic Design at AUT University, Graham Beattie, a fulltime book reviewer and book blogger, and designer Sharon Grace.

The awards are run by the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) to promote excellence in, and provide recognition for, the best book design in New Zealand. The competition is judged in six categories, with a winner for the highly coveted Best Book chosen from the shortlist and sponsored by Nielsen Book Services.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony in Auckland on 22 July, along with the Awa Press Young Designer of the Year. The awards are sponsored by a range of publishers, along with North & South magazine and Kalamazoo Wyatt & Wilson printers.

Finalists for the 201 0 PANZ Book Design Awards are as follows:

Scholastic New Zealand Award for Best Children’s Book

Anita Mcleod, Book Design Ltd and Katz Cowley

The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith  Scholastic New Zealand

Michael Greenfield

Old Hu-Hu by Kyle Mewburn Scholastic New Zealand

Anna Seabrook

Ben and Mark: Boys of the High Country by Christine Fernyhough and John Bougen

Random House New Zealand

Hachette New Zealand Award for Best Non-illustrated Book

Sarah Laing (cover), Kate Barraclough (interior)

Dead People’s Music by Sarah Laing Random House New Zealand

Spencer Levine (cover and interior) Dee Murch (layout)

In a Word: The Essential Tool for Finding the Perfect Word by Mark Broatch

New Holland Publishers (NZ)

Keely O’Shannessy (cover), Katrina Duncan(interior)

Mirabile Dictu by Michele Leggott    Auckland University Press

Random House New Zealand Award for Best Illustrated Book

Fiona Lascelles

Villa: From Heritage to Contemporary by Patrick Reynolds, Jeremy Hansen and

Jeremy Salmond Random House New Zealand

Spencer Levine (cover) and Katrina Duncan (interior)

Marti Friedlander by Leonard Bell     Auckland University Press

Cameron Gibb

The Life & Love of Trees by Lewis Blackwell PQ Blackwell

Pearson Award for Best Educational Book

Anna Seabrook

Get Growing: A New Zealand Step-by-step Guide to Growing Your Own Vegetables

and Fruit by Helen Cook  Random House New Zealand

Cheryl Rowe, Macarn Design

Geography on the Edge by Justin Peat and John Lockyear Cengage Learning

Book Design Ltd

Year 9 Graphics by Pail Bourdiot Cengage Learning

Pindar Award for Best Typography

Mission Hall (interior), Afineline (additional design and typesetting)

Art at Te Papa by William McAloon Te Papa Press

Kate Barraclough

A Treasury of New Zealand Baking edited by Lauraine Jacobs Random House New Zealand

Kate Barraclough

Wine Class: All You Need to Know about Wine in New Zealand by Jo Burzynska

Random House New Zealand

HarperCollins Publishers Award for Best Cover

Keely O’Shannessy

As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong    Penguin Group (NZ)

Sarah Laing

Magpie Hall by Rachael King Random House New Zealand

Carolyn Lewis

A Beautiful Game by Tom Watt PQ Blackwell