Best-designed Book a Celebration of Women Artists

A show-stopping celebration of women and their art has been deemed the supreme winner at the 2025 PANZ Book Design Awards.

Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa by Kirsty Baker (Auckland University Press), designed by Katie Kerr (Studio Katie Kerr) was awarded the Gerard Reid Award for Best Book sponsored by NielsenIQ BookData during a joyous ceremony held this evening in Auckland. Sight Lines also received the Penguin Random House New Zealand Award for Best Illustrated Book.

“This book should be perched atop every household's bookshelf,” said convenor of judges Chloe Blades. “The unusual and distinctive pairing of bright orange and olive green is a bold choice, which paired with the design of the cover, has an air of assertiveness and intrigue. The trust placed upon the designer to create something both readable and worth gifting, or keeping for generations to come, has paid off.”

The judges said each page reveals a new thoughtful touch, from the distinct typographic styles to the alternating background colours and layout. The reader is navigated with pleasure, delicately, through the complexity that many contributors writing on 35 different artists brings. With all of these effective and highly-contemplated design elements converging, the end result is a book worthy of the artists and their art within.

When announcing the supreme award, the judges also gave special mention to another contender; worm, root, wort... & bane by Ann Shelton (Alice Austen House Press), designed by Duncan Munro of Lucky Stairs Studio, praising the energetic and eclectic design. worm, root, wort... & bane was also recognised with the HarperCollins Publishers Award for Best Cover and shared the Bookhub People’s Choice Award with Fenoga Tāoga Niue I Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey In Aotearoa edited by Molima Molly Pihigia QSM, Toluma'anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu, Kolokesa Uafa Mahina-Tuai, Hikule'o Fe'aomoeako Melaia Mahina and Janson Chau (Mafola Press), designed by Janson Chau (Alt Group).

The Upstart Press Award for Best Non-Illustrated Book went to Japan: An Autobiography by Peter Shaw (Six Point Press), cover designed by Arch MacDonnell, interior by Arch MacDonnell & Jane MacDonnell (Inhouse). The judges said the “elegance of this book is astounding, and each page is exciting to land on” and they felt the title leads the way for the future of travel writing books. Japan also won the Te Papa Press Award for Best Typography.

This year saw a particularly strong field of entries for the Scholastic New Zealand Award for Best Children’s Book and the judges ended up awarding the prize jointly to two titles.

A Lot of Silly by Joy Cowley & David Barrow (Gecko Press), designed by Vida Kelly, stood out for the way the design reflected the joy of the book itself and perfectly complemented the wonderfully ludicrous illustrations. While The Dream Factory / Te Wheketere Moemoeā by Steph Matuku & Zak Ātea (Huia Publishers), designed by Te Kani Price and Sophie Hooper, perfectly captured the brief of a dream-like aesthetic, with the judges declaring the end result a beauty to behold.

The always highly anticipated Allen & Unwin Award for Best Commercial Book for Adults went to Amma by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press), cover designed by Megan van Staden, interior by Simon Paterson Bookhouse. While Oikos — An Ode to Food, Family & Friends by Theo Papouis (Oikos), designed by Seachange, won the hotly contested 1010 Printing Award for Best Cookbook.

The Awards also recognise the best in Aotearoa's vibrant educational publishing scene with the PANZ Award for Best Education Book or Series — Primary going to My Matariki Colouring and Activity Book by Rangi Matamua, Miriama Kamo & Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Scholastic New Zealand), cover designed by Vida Kelly, interior by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White and Vida Kelly.

Finally, Sarah-Louise Crawford of Huia Publishers was recognised as the Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand Emerging Designer Award. Her practice draws deeply on kaupapa Māori values, and the judges felt it shows how cultural meaning and typographic clarity can work together. They said Sarah demonstrates care, precision, and a growing confidence in balancing cultural richness with wide appeal.

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