Upstart Press Award for Best Non-Illustrated Book 2024
Finalist
Designers: Cover: Keely O’Shannessy
Interior: Keely O’Shannessy and Katrina Duncan
Title: Blood and Dirt: Prison Labour and the Making of New Zealand
Publisher: Bridget Williams Books
Format: 240 x 170mm, 304pp. Section sewn in 16pp, casebound over 3mm boards.Printed on 130gsm Yulong 1.3 cream paper. Casebound with minimal overhang, square-backed spine, head & tail bands.
Typography: Cover type: Headline Gothic ATF with Clarendon URW and Clarendon URW Extra Narrow
Chapter openers: Headline Gothic ATF with Clarendon URW
Body text: Karmina, 10.35 / 13.765pt
Captions: ITC Franklin gothic 8/10.
The type design was inspired by the specimen book from the Lyttleton Gaol printshop published in 1878 as well as by classic ‘Wanted’ and ‘Reward’ posters. A subtle letterpress/print texture was used through the cover and chapter opener typography as a further reference to this aesthetic.
“The brief was for the book to be more physically interesting than a standard c-format paperback but not to be too flashy. It needed to feel a bit rough-hewn, gritty and hardworking; to reference bricks and the roughness of the prisoners’ hands but also to be highly readable, visually interesting and contemporary. The publisher came on board with early decisions to use uncoated stock and a cut-flush casebound book which would allow for the brick-like proportions and for the flat opening of the double-page spread chapter headings.”
Judges’ comments This book design is both consistent and clever. The type, inspired by a 19th-century Lyttelton Gaol Printshop specimen, reflects the book’s engagement with the history of prison labour. The chunky captions, regulated layout, and grid system are meticulously crafted, adding to the book’s intrigue. The hardback, cut-flush casebound design mimics the proportions of prison bricks, making it a gritty, visually compelling piece that seems equally at home in both Mt Eden prison and Unity Books. The bold, wood-type vernacular and duotone colourised cover photo further enhance its striking, rough-hewn aesthetic.
