Allen & Unwin Award
for Best Commercial Book for Adults 2022 Finalist
Designer: Linda Va’aelua Fifty5 Creative
Photographer/Creative Director: Qiane Matata-Sipu QIANE+co
Title: NUKU: Stories of 100 Indigenous Women
Publisher: QIANE+co
Format: 265 x 205mm, 344pp, 4c x 4c, 2 x 4pp ends. Flexibound, section sewn in 16pp, separate ends, rounded backed and fully cased with flexi-cover with 3 x 6mm wide Satin-Finish Ribbon markers in green ST 32, black ST 12, white ribbon, width 6mm with black H/T band.
The ribbons are a reflection of the Māori creation narrative, the black to represent Te Kore – the great nothingness, the empty void, a space of unrealised potential, and Te Pō – the perpetual night and its varying dimensions that prepare for transformation.
The Green represents te wehenga o Ranginui and Papaūānuku – the separation of the sky and earth and the connection women have to our ultimate female essence, Papatūānuku.
The white is for Te Ao Mārama – the world of light and life. The world in which we live in today and the celebration of all that is within it. This is also the time of Hineahuone, the first woman made from sacred red clay at Kurawaka and Hinetītama the first born being of the dawn.
Hineahuone, Hinetītama and Papatūānuku are further represented in the pages of the book through the maroon (earth pigment), orange (of the dawn)
and green (living earth) colours throughout.
140gsm Woodfree paper was chosen to connect the reader to a feeling of
rawness in our natural environment and the feel of Indigeneity in the pages.
On the cover we have 1/s non-scuff matt lamination + spot gloss UV on title
on front and spine + embossing on front and spine (title only) on 300gsm C1S
Art Board. This three dimensional embossing and gloss allows for tamariki,
children, to feel the textures of the words on the page and engage with the
book in a tactile manner, encouraging them to take interest in the book and
the inspirational stories within it.
The end paper design is a Māori tukutuku pattern called Pātikitiki – a
representation of the flounder. It is reflective of the stories Qiane’s
grandmother would tell her about the flounder that once swam in the Ōruarangi awa (their ancestral river). The pattern represents Nana Dawn who
died before the book was created, and line the front and back of the book in a
metaphorical safekeeping of the stories within.
On the cover, Tuini Tuwha is photographed in the urban Auckland backyard of
designer Linda Va’aelua. She is adorned with kokowai, red earth pigment
collected by Qiane on Rēkohu, Chatham Islands. The adornment of kokowai
connects to female creation stories and the Atua Hineahuone, Hinetītama and
Papatūānuku. The cover model is the embodiment of these Atua and
acknowledges the strength of te ira wahine.
Typography: Body copy: Calluna regular 10pt leading 13.2pt
Heading: Kiona bold (varying sizes)
Pull quote: Kiona regular caps 25pt leading 28pt
Intro: Calluna regular 15pt leading 19pt
