HarperCollins Publishers Award for Best Cover 2018
Finalist
Designer: Peter Bray, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
Title: Aberhart Starts Here
Publisher: Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
Format: 220 x 220mm, 136pp, hardback, section sewn.
Paper: Gardapat Kiara, a dense stock well suited to art reproductions. All photographs were printed CMYK and carefully colour-matched and corrected to Laurence’s original artwork. A colour polaroid of a Christchurch building was chosen to highlight a little known side of Lawrence’s work while still retaining the classic ’emptiness’ of the artist’s practice.
Typography: National, semi-bold, 15 point on 18 point leading. The bespoke cover font was designed by Peter Bray based on the hand painted sign in the photograph of D & A Car Wreckers on pages 38-39.
Judges’ Comments: Aberhart is probably best known for his atmospheric black and white photography, so the cover here is a pleasant surprise with its bluish teal and brown cover image. Striking in its simplicity, the book also has a lovely format.
