22 October 2020

MOPHEAD TAKES TOP HONOURS AT PANZ BOOK DESIGN AWARDS

A book described as a “sensation” has been judged the overall winner at the 2020 PANZ Book Design Awards.

Mophead, Selina Tusitala Marsh’s autobiographical tale written for children, but just as beloved by adults, was awarded the Gerard Reid Award for Best Book sponsored by Nielsen Book at a ceremony held in Ponsonby this evening.

The award is the ultimate acknowledgement of design and designer and takes into account all aspects of a book’s look and feel. The judges were delighted with Mophead from cover to end-paper, and entranced from the first touch to the last word.

“Mophead scored a near-unachievable 39/40 from the four judges,” said convening judge Anna Brown.

“The positivity of the message is celebrated with a visual language packed full of graphic energy. The illustrations are upbeat, popping and dancing with the pace of the text. The typeface interacts seamlessly with the hand-drawn type. The cover is well-considered, and the size is just right.”

Mophead, which was designed by Vida Kelly of Vida and Luke Kelly Design, also won the Scholastic New Zealand Award for Best Children’s Book, one of 11 awards presented at the event, which celebrates the best in New Zealand book design.

The 2020 awards saw the introduction of a new category, the Allen & Unwin Award for Best Commercial Book for Adults, which challenged the judges to define “commercial” and “for adults” from a design perspective. They eventually settled on Garage Project: The Art of Beer by Garage Project, designed by Tim Gibson and Katrina Duncan, a book they say celebrates craft beer with style.

Another hotly contested category was the PANZ Award for Best Typography with the judges praising the winner Crafting Aotearoa edited by Karl Chitham, Kolokesa Māhina-Tuai and Damian Skinner, designed by Alan Deare, for its brilliant typographic choices and pairings.

“The variety of text and typefaces is complex but handled effortlessly to smoothly navigate the reader through the diverse content,” said Brown.

The HarperCollins Publishers Award for Best Cover gave the judges plenty to talk about with self-published cookbook Pass it On by Shobha Kalyan and Keryn Kalyan, designed by Jessica Read in collaboration with the authors, judged the ultimate winner.

“The choice of clashing colours is brave and the gilded edges finish it perfectly. And all with confidence to not use food to sell a cookbook. Magic,” said the judges.

Continuing the foodie theme, acclaimed local chef Josh Emett’s The recipe, designed by Cameron Gibb, received the 1010 Printing Award for Best Cookbook, with the judges finding its gorgeous, bible-like format perfectly suited the collection of all-time classic recipes, calling it a “cookbook for the ages”.

A highlight of the awards is the Publishers Association of New Zealand People’s Choice Award, which is decided at the ceremony by attendee vote. The assembled crowd was in tune with this year’s judges and Mophead designer Vida Kelly was again called to the stage to collect her third award of the night.

The PANZ Book Design Awards were established by the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) to promote excellence in, and provide recognition for, the best book design in New Zealand.

The 2020 PANZ Book Design Awards winners are:

GERARD REID AWARD FOR BEST BOOK SPONSORED BY NIELSEN BOOK

Mophead written and illustrated by Selina Tusitala Marsh (Auckland University Press), Designed by: Vida Kelly, Vida and Luke Kelly Design

PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE NEW ZEALAND AWARD FOR BEST ILLUSTRATED BOOK

We Are Here: An atlas of Aotearoa by Chris McDowall and Tim Denee (Massey University Press), Designed by: Tim Denee

UPSTART PRESS AWARD FOR BEST NON-ILLUSTRATED BOOK

Hell Fire Poetry Anthology 2017–18 edited by Andy Coyle (White Wolf Black Rabbit in association with Ilam Press), Designed by: Aaron Beehre

ALLEN & UNWIN AWARD FOR BEST COMMERCIAL BOOK FOR ADULTS

Garage Project: The Art of Beer by Garage Project (Penguin Random House NZ), Designed by: Cover: Tim Gibson. Interior: Tim Gibson and Katrina Duncan

SCHOLASTIC NEW ZEALAND AWARD FOR BEST CHILDREN’S BOOK

Mophead written and illustrated by Selina Tusitala Marsh (Auckland University Press), Designed by: Vida Kelly, Vida and Luke Kelly Design

EDIFY AWARD FOR BEST EDUCATIONAL BOOK OR SERIES – PRIMARY

Toitoi: A Journal for Young Writers and Artists, Issues 16-19 and the Latin America and Southeast Asia Special Issues, with Teacher Support Materials edited by Charlotte Gibbs (Toitoi Media), Designed by: Kelvin Soh and Sam Wieck of DDMMYY with Grace McFarlane and Vicki Birks, Toitoi Media Ltd

EDIFY AWARD FOR BEST EDUCATIONAL BOOK OR SERIES – SECONDARY / TERTIARY

Exploring Society: Sociology for New Zealand Students, 4th Edition edited by Ruth McManus, Steve Matthewman, Chris Brickell, Gregor McLennan and Paul Spoonley (Auckland University Press), Designed by: Cover: Kalee Jackson. Interior: Katrina Duncan

1010 PRINTING AWARD FOR BEST COOKBOOK

The recipe by Josh Emett (Upstart Press in association with Blackwell & Ruth), Designed by: Cameron Gibb, Blackwell & Ruth

HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS AWARD FOR BEST COVER

Pass It On by Shobha Kalyan and Keryn Kalyan (self-published by Shobha Kalyan and Keryn Kalyan), Designed by: Jessica Read in collaboration with Shobha Kalyan and Keryn Kalyan

PANZ AWARD FOR BEST TYPOGRAPHY

Crafting Aotearoa edited by Karl Chitham, Kolokesa Māhina-Tuai and Damian Skinner (Te Papa Press), Designed by: Alan Deare, Area Design

PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW ZEALAND PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

Mophead written and illustrated by Selina Tusitala Marsh (Auckland University Press), Designed by: Vida Kelly, Vida and Luke Kelly Design

2020 HACHETTE NEW ZEALAND EMERGING DESIGNER is Jessica Read

THE JUDGING PANEL

Associate Professor Anna Brown is a tertiary design educator and researcher, who works with visual artists, curators, art historians and musicians investigating through form, materials and typography how the vehicle of the book can animate and amplify the content it contains. Her international research profile in book design includes a commission for New Zealand’s official Venice Biennale project in 2013. Anna is an Associate Professor in the College of Creative Arts where she is Director Toi Āria — Design for Public Good. For many years she ran her own design business with a specialisation in book design.

Aaron McKirdy is Design Director at Chrometoaster, a multidisciplinary design studio based in Wellington. He has over 20 years experience designing some of New Zealand’s most recognised brands. It was his love of typography and books, though, that saw him work alongside some of the UK’s leading authors such as Lauren Child, Neal Layton and Cressida Cowell at Hodder Children’s Books. Aaron received The Purple Pin for Public Good and collected Australia's Good Design Award supreme prize "Design of the Year" — the only time this has been awarded outside Australia — for the educational game, Game of Awesome.

Writer and reviewer Kiran Dass is the buyer for Time Out Bookstore in Auckland and reviews books regularly on RNZ and 95bFM. Her writing has appeared in NZ Listener, NZ Herald, The Spinoff, Pantograph Punch, Sunday magazine, Sunday Star-Times, Landfall and The Wire (UK). Dass has chaired sessions at the Auckland Writers Festival, Verb Wellington and WORD Christchurch. She co-hosts the books podcast Papercuts.

Nick Turzynski studied English Literature and Language at Aberdeen University before working in London as a journalist and in advertising, branding, packaging and magazine design. He moved to New Zealand with his family in 1995 where he worked initially at Cuisine magazine, and then as Art Director at Hodder Moa Beckett, when publishing upwards of 60 titles a year was not unusual. In 2003 he started his own company, redinc. Book Design, and enjoys working with a huge variety of authors and publishers. In 2008 he returned to writing with the publication of his first book, How to Eat a Huhu Grub, illustrated by his son Conrad.