1010 Printing Award for Best Cookbook 2023
Finalist
Designers: Cover: Stace Cottrill & Christall Lowe. Interior: Katrina Duncan & Christall Lowe
Title: Kai: Food Stories & Recipes from my Family Table
Publisher: Bateman Books
Format: 260 x 220mm, 304pp. Hardback, PLC.
Subtitle: Queulat Cnd Soft
Body font: Queulat Cnd Soft
Recipe Headings: Avenir
"Kai was an unusual cookbook that we gave Cristall full reign over, not only the text and photography but also the design parameters. With the aid of Stace Cottrill and Katrina Duncan, Christall designed the book and cover."
Judges’ comments The family table and the kai served at it, bringing whānau together is the hero here. Celebrated through close-up photography — we see air bubbles in sliced freshly baked bread, the delight of the icing sugar dusting, steam released by a lifted pan lid — these reveal process and action which deliver great storytelling. The uncoated paperstock allows really deep dark indulgent moments, allowing for highlights of texture to sing out. The reader is treated to wide variety, changes of colour and pace on journey from verdant garden or moana to table. The typographic system and choices function well and allow the content and photography to shine.
Kai is a wonderful visual experience, with moody photographs paired with elegant typography. The narrative of recipes and stories successfully combines full-bleed images with curated groups. The distinctive raking light in the top-shots, controlled depth of field, and focussed, vignetted lighting are well-used throughout. The typographic highlight is the stunning title type, while the light weight of the body type is at times challenging to read, particularly when reversed from images. While the 2 column grid works well, some pages use a single column with a challenging line length.
