What do the best designed books look like?

Artist Katie Kerr’s bold orange and green choice for a book celebrating women in art has seen her named the supreme winner of PANZ Book Design Awards.

Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa, by Kirsty Baker, was awarded the Best Book and Best Illustrated Book gongs during a ceremony on Thursday evening in Auckland.

Convenor of judges Chloe Blades said the “unusual and distinctive pairing” of colours gave the book “an air of assertiveness and intrigue”.

Last year, Rewi: Āta haere, kia tere - a tribute to the late architect Rewi Thompson - took the top award along with three other wins, including People’s Choice Award.

This year, the Best Cover Award went to Duncan Munro for worm, root, wort... & bane (by Ann Shelton). Judges praised its "energetic and eclectic design".

Last year, the book - which explores the contemporary treatment of healers, gardeners and foragers - won gold at the Designers Institute of New Zealand: Best Design Awards.

A book by self-confessed Japanophile Peter Shaw,Japan: An Autobiography, designed by Arch MacDonnell and Jane MacDonnell - caught the eye of judges who said it paved the way for the future of travel writing books. It won Best Non-Illustrated Book and Best Typography.

The Best Children’s Book Awards went to two titles - A Lot of Silly (by Joy Cowley and David Barrow) designed by Vida Kelly and The Dream Factory / Te Wheketere Moemoeā (by Steph Matuku and Zak Ātea) designed by Te Kani Price and Sophie Hooper.

Oikos — An Ode to Food, Family & Friends (by Theo Papouis), designed by Seachange, won the award for Best Cookbook.

Sarah-Louise Crawford of Huia Publishers was recognised as an emerging designer. The judges felt her practice, which draws on kaupapa Māori values, showed how cultural meaning and typography can work together.

Sarah-Louise Crawford