Upstart Press Award for Best Non-Illustrated Book 2019
Finalist
Designers: Cover: Julia Murray
Interior: Julia Murray with Kirby Jones
Title: Wild Journeys
Publisher: HarperCollins New Zealand
Format: 234 x 153mm, 288 pages, cased and jacketed. Case covered in brown wibalin with silver foiling.
Typography: Hand illustrated typography with body typeset in Sabon LT. The designer wanted something organic, with a vintage poster feel relating to the historical stories inside. The brief was to reflect the intelligence of the writing and the often whimsical nature of the narrative, with a palette drawing from the New Zealand landscape.
Judges’ comments: “Warm and open typographic setting welcomes the reader along the journey.
“Lovely cover illustration and typography. It takes what could be a long-winded subtitle and invites you to read it. Internally, the type does feel a little gappy and your eye notices you’re reading it.”
“Warm and open typographic setting welcomes the reader along the journey. The chapter headers show off Sabon LT particularly well. The idea of the cover is sound and the illustration captures the New Zealand bush and trekking landscape and vistas perfectly, but the playful hand lettering has perhaps just one or two too many character versions from spine to cover. The author’s name could well have avoided black to white transition being big and bold along the bottom of front cover. Or perhaps a more spreading canopy of tree allowing for all white lettering of authors name to pop across the top. There is not much to design here as far as tones of voice from chapter to chapter so what is done is done well, but save for the chapter openers no real chance for design to shine.”
