Upstart Press Award for Best Non-Illustrated Book 2021
Winner
Designer: Sarah Bolland, The Cuba Press
Title: Towards Compostela
Publisher: The Cuba Press
Format: 150 x 205mm, 252pp, perfect bound.
Cover: 300gsm Munken Pure Cream with 130mm flaps, printed both sides. The scallop shell symbol of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage appears inside the front flap.
Text: 80gsm Munken Print Cream
Typography: Set in Feijoa by Klim Type Foundry, 9 pt type, 14.3 pt leading.
Catharina’s text is one continuous piece without chapter breaks, so rather than try to make it conform rigidly to the page, we’ve allowed the base line to meander up and down throughout the book, evoking the hills and undulating ground of Catharina’s pilgrimage. Where necessary, sections of text are separated by modern fleurons drawn by Gregory O’Brien.
Judges’ comments A complete book object that stood out on the table for us in its quiet confidence and evocative simplicity. The gentle play with ink-blue serif type and line illustration on the cover is followed by sensitive typesetting with careful attention to detail that rewards an attentive reader: section break ornaments that vary from page to page, tactile uncoated off-white paper stock matching the cover and the slightly squat format all add up to an engaging volume that is greater than the sum of its humble parts.
