Penguin Random House New Zealand
Award for Best Illustrated Book 2023
Finalist
Designer: Gideon Keith, SEVEN
Title: Needles and Plastic: Flying Nun Records, 1981–1988
Publisher: Auckland University Press
Format: 280 x 234 mm, 436pp, flexibind. Flexi cover printed 4c with matt lamination and spot UV on the hand-drawn title lettering. Text printed 4c with overall matt varnish on 128gsm matt art (FSC).
Typography: Neue Haas Grotesk Roman and Bold. To balance the content and text a simple typographic approach was taken with Neue Haas Grotesk Roman and Bold. A simple grid, a few (breakable) rules and a colour palette from the label’s hometown hold this tome together, its simplicity belying the work taken to bring it to fruition.
“The book needed to fit in with genre of books about music labels and rock ’n roll, and it needed the Flying Nun look and feel itself, utilising the distinctive look of the records, posters, ads etc – all the original artwork that came with it. It needed to feel like the label felt: intentionally messy and haphazard; and to run with this it needed a very clean, strong design and structure to pull that messiness together. The key was to capture that do-it-yourselfness of Flying Nun the label and the clean/punky design of the period, rendering that chaos into beautiful simplicity.”
Judges’ comments This is a book that grabs your attention from the outset. The cover presents Flying Nun’s chaotic, and fun-looking workspace. The grungy translucent red type banner hits the mark – with the red tint later appearing over full-bleed images for the chapter openers. The typography moves beautifully from a bookish introduction to a 3 column music rag layout befitting the content. Imagery is sometimes presented as in a scrapbook, other times the hero shots just own the page. The highly visual structure makes this book a road trip you want to join.
