Penguin Random House New Zealand
Award for Best Illustrated Book 2019

Finalist

Designer: Kalee Jackson, Studio Kalee Jackson
Title: As You Will: Carnegie Libraries of the South Pacific by Mickey Smith
Publisher: Te Tuhi
Format: 210 x 260mm, 144pp, section sewn, cased. Cover: Wibalin natural in Sunshine Yellow with foiled text and CMYK image with matt laminate. The wrapping of the Wibalin around to the front cover references the tape binding of old fashioned library books. The steel coloured foil is in reference to Carnegie’s fortune made in the steel industry which funded his libraries. The cover image is a portrait of Carnegie situated in the Onehunga Carnegie Library, which is now a gastropub. Pages: Image pages are run in CMYK with two metallic spot colours and seal. The historic images and text are run in two steel coloured metallic inks to reference historic silvertone prints and Carnegie’s background in steel. Text pages are uncoated for tactility and readability and image pages are coated with a matt seal for vibrant image reproduction.

Typography: Body text: Calibre regular 10pt, 14.28pt leading. Calibre, by Klim Type Foundry, is a geometric neo-grotesque inspired by ideas of engineering and geometric rationality; a contemporary New Zealand typeface that is deployed here to reference Carnegie’s industrialism. In listing the Libraries various weights of Calibre are used to signify whether a library is in use, repurposed, earthquake prone, or demolished.

Judges’ comments: “Great use of colour on the outer spine. The yellow really pops and makes it jump out if spine out on a shelf, making it easy to find. “

“The design is understated as this is largely a photographic work — but the subtle typographic indication of existing, present to demolished institutions works well.”

“Succinct design, nice use and crop of images and a nice rotation of intro texts throughout.”

“The silent and contemplative mood of the photos is carried through in the design by dynamic page composition and the strong contrasts in scale and photo placement. The use of solid yellow and deep chocolate brown gives the book its own individual feel.”