Awa Press Young Designer of
the Year Award
Shortlist 2012
 | Megan van Staden studied Visual Communications at Massey University, majoring in Graphic Design and graduating with honours. She currently works as a designer at Random House New Zealand, designing both covers and layouts for a wide range of books. She considers publishing a natural choice of industry, as she has always loved reading and typography. To view a Q & A with Megan, click here |
Judges’ comments We liked every book in Megan van Staden’s portfolio. Her designs show a real sensitivity to subject matter and an incredible versatility – from the quirkiness of Q & Eh to the stately, sophisticated treatment of Te Hao Nui, the wistfulness of The Parihaka Woman and the blokey, masculine design for Untamed. Van Staden’s portfolio shows consistency and an enormous amount of promise.
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 | Anna Egan-Reid worked as an illustrator for an Australian publisher while at the University of Otago and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and English. She started her career as a designer and typesetter with Egan-Reid and Pindar. She then moved on to a role as designer at Penguin Books, followed by a position as the creative director at Cervin Media. Her love of books stems from her family, who have been involved in various aspects of the publishing industry. Anna says 'there is always something special about the book design process and I feel very lucky to have a job that I adore.' To view a Q & A with Anna, click here |
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Judges’ comments Anna Egan-Reid’s design for Janet Frame: In Her Own Words is particularly impressive. The cover is sophisticated and the interior design beautifully tackles the constraints of the small format. Egan-Reid has a very impressive ability to design successfully across a variety of genres – the design for Moon Cow is so different from the other work in her portfolio and an excellent example of children’s book design.
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 | Saskia Nicol graduated from Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Art and Design and started her career as a designer for ProDesign magazine. This was followed by further magazine design work at Metro and North and South, and then a move to books with a contract at Random House New Zealand. She now freelances and is completing a personal project designing a cover for every book she reads for her website, www.saskianicol.com. To view a Q & A with Saskia, click here |
Judges’ comments Saskia Nicol’s design for Tupaia is brilliant. It is one of the best book designs of the year. The cover design is incredibly eye-catching and the interior is perfect; every element is beautifully handled. The rest of Nicol’s portfolio shows a great level of competence and, in particular, a wonderful ability to design striking covers.
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