How to Loiter in a Turf War — HarperCollins Publishers Award for Best Cover 2023 FINALIST

HarperCollins Publishers Award for Best Cover 2023

Finalist

Designer: Carla Sy, Penguin Random House NZ, illustrations Coco Solid

Title: How to Loiter in a Turf War
Publisher: Penguin Random House NZ
Format: 210 x 153mm, 176pp, Trade Paperback with additional Spot UV and debossing embellishments on the cover for the linear strokes on the faces to enhance tactility and overall design. Pantone colour used for the pink on the title lock-up and back cover for extra punch.
Typography: Front cover: Hand drawn typeface for the title and author lock-up. Back cover blurb typeset in National 2.

“The brief was intentionally open-ended for this debut fiction novel, allowing the design development to unfold collectively. The author, Coco, is a multi-skilled/versatile artist and was involved in the design process, working up an illustration depicting the main characters in her novel. She created the original art using a flat dry brush to draw on thick, heavy, black strokes on a naked canvas, which allowed the textures to come through naturally. The stylised illustration produced strikingly expressive eyes with bold carve-like characteristics, which we further enhanced by introducing vibrant, contrasting blocks of colour, and using a limited colour palette to bring the entirety of the design into a more graphic and contemporary setting. There was a nudge to use hand drawn, brush lettering to accompany the cover illustration, gently interweaving the words around the negative spaces so it sits sympathetically amongst the important figures.”

Judges’ comments The cover illustration has big bold energy, and the hand drawn Sharpie type works perfectly with it. Irreverent, colourful but with an edge, it exudes a youthful energy reflecting the urgency and tone of the book. The rear text is set boldly and competently and the hot pink and bright lips nail it. How could you not pick this up? It’s practically resonating!

This irreverent and colourful cover employs Sharpie marker graffiti over strong contemporary portrait illustrations. The vibrant pink title cuts through the brightly-coloured illustrations with a youthful energy reflecting the urgency and tone of the book.

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