Awards Book Archive

Olmec Obituary
  • Shortlisted

Designed by
Josh Durham
Category
Best Designed Commercial Fiction Cover
Year
2017
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

The starting point was to develop a strong series look/feel that could be flexible enough to apply with some variation to forthcoming books. I wanted something graphic incorporating both illustration and typography- something that echoed the archeological themes using shape, pattern and colour but rendered to achieve a a definite classic mystery feel. I hit upon the idea of incorporating the title as a illustrative element within the main illustration and keeping the author/ series branding outside of this picture plane. The cover has a complete feel with the illustrative wrap and typographical consistency across the spine and back cover.

Details
Dimensions
126 x 198 mm
No. pages
352
Special finishes
Matt lamination with spot UV
Credits
Internal Design
Shaun Jury
Illustration
All illustration work and title typography by Design by Committee.
Typesetting
Shaun Jury
Printing
Griffin Press
Author
L.J.M. Owen