Awards Book Archive

Dr Pimms Series
  • Shortlisted

Designed by
Josh Durham
Category
Best Designed Series (including Classics)
Year
2019
Publisher
Echo Publishing

About the Designer

Josh worked in magazine design before setting up his company Design by Committee under the mentorship of Australian book design luminary W.H. Chong. He draws upon a broad skill base to offer both illustrative and concept driven solutions to literary fiction, commercial fiction, YA, children’s, non fiction and illustrated book commissions for all of Australia’s leading publishers.

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Design Rationale

A series of archaeological sleuth/crime books following the adventures of inter-millenial sleuth Dr Pimms. 3 books in the series so far. How to build a strong and immediately identifiable series look from scratch? Easy! Well, not really… We knew we wanted something to reflect the tone and energy of the books- to make some of the heavier themes seem approachable and interesting. Each book uses the same basic design and author branding template but the flavour of the artwork, iconography, pattern work, typography and colour palette are changed up according to the location of where the novels are set.

Details
Dimensions
128 x 198 mm
No. pages
370
Special finishes
Special Finishes include Spot UV, Metallic Ink printed on a Matt Laminate Stock. The illustrative approach to the design stretches across the full cover for a cohesive feel. Small elements of humour are embedded in the illustrations. The illustrations play with positive and negative shape and achieve a depth and complexity despite the restraints of a limited colour palette. Each book is black and white and one solid colour- the 3rd book Egyptian Enigma is printed using a metallic gold ink. Spot UV is used on all coloured areas of the front covers.
Credits
Internal Design
Josh Durham
Illustration
Josh Durham, Design by Committee
Typesetting
Shaun Jury
Printing
Griffin Press
Author
L.J.M Owen