Judges — PANZ Book Design Awards 2019
The judges for the 2019 PANZ Book Design Awards are; Senior Lecturer on the Communication Design Bachelor at AUT David Coventon, MA PGCE (convenor), graphic designer Jess Gommers, education design expert Simon Waterfield and Kiran Dass, writer, reviewer and book buyer for Time Out book store in Auckland.
Convening Judge David Coventon, MA PGCE
A graduate of the Masters in Graphic Design at Central Saint Martins, David Coventon has over twenty five years experience across music, arts and publishing with a client base in London and Auckland. Co-founder of two:design London, he later went on to be Course leader of the Bachelor in Graphic Design at Camberwell College. Whilst in that role he was a key member of the staff and student team that re-started the Camberwell Press. After migrating to Aotearoa in 2011, David worked as graphic designer at Auckland Museum in the Brand and Customer Engagement team for four years including overseeing the brand refresh of early 2018. But it was his ‘calling’ that saw him return to tertiary teaching in March 2018, when he took a Senior Lecturer position teaching graphic design on the Bachelor of Design — Communication Design at AUT School of Art & Design. So, type on paper, lettering on wood, setting in metal, ideas, word play and typography in all forms are what drives his design. Collaborative projects always welcome!
Jesss Gommers
A freelancer based in Auckland, Jess Gommers has designed publications & exhibitions for clients throughout Australasia. She’s worked as in-house designer at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, Auckland Arts Festival and Auckland Museum. Publisher of three titles (comma dot dogma, of gorse of course & process), her design work can also be seen in two recently built & award winning museums: Te Kōngahu – Museum of Waitangi & Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom. Most recently her work has been seen within Auckland Museum’s Volume: Making music in Aotearoa, Are we there yet?: Women and equality in New Zealand & Carried away: bags unpacked.
Simon Waterfield
Simon Waterfield is a designer at Lift Education, with expertise in educational and literacy design and children’s publishing. He works on the School Journal, Ready to Read, and Connected. These series allow him to collaborate with an extensive range of writers, illustrators, and photographers. Recently completed projects include a new series of Greedy Cat books by Joy Cowley and Robyn Belton and a Treaty of Waitangi | Te Tiriti o Waitangi bilingual comic with Toby Morris. Simon holds a Bachelor of Design from Wellington Polytechnic/Victoria University and has previously worked at Wellington Media Collective, Base2, and Learning Media. He’s chaired sessions with children’s book creators Oliver Jeffers and Leo Timmers and twice judged The Arts Foundation’s Mallinson Rendel Illustrators Award (2015 and 2017). He’s passionate about comics, children’s publishing, and the use of design to explain the world to young, curious minds.
Kiran Dass
Kiran Dass is the book buyer for Time Out Bookstore in Mt Eden, Auckland and has thirteen years of experience in the book trade. A writer and reviewer, Kiran has covered books and music for the NZ Herald, NZ Listener, RNZ, Sunday magazine, Sunday Star-Times, Landfall, Metro, The Spinoff, Pantograph Punch and The Wire (UK), and regularly reviews books on RNZ’s Nine to Noon and Auckland’s 95bFM. Kiran is co-producer and co-host of the literary podcast Papercuts, and has chaired sessions at Auckland Writers Festival, WORD Christchurch, LitCrawl, and Hamilton Book Month. Twitter: @SteelyDass
