Edify Award for Best Educational Book or Series – Primary 2020
Finalist
Designers: Scott and Leonie Pearson, Visual Evolution.
Title: Te Kura i Monoa (Māori edition) | The Treasured Plume (English edition)
Publisher: Huia Publishers
Format: 180 x 255mm, 28pp plus cover, saddle stitched.
Typography: Cover: Semplicita Pro, 40pt and 11pt
Internals: Pakiwaituhi, 7pt on 9pt leading.
The graphic novel was produced in two languages, te reo Māori and English. The designer was required to typeset and layout the text components, in both languages, in a way that supports the visual elements of the story. This included dialogue, dialogue bubbles, sound effects, imprint/copyright information, title pages and cover mastheads.
A typographical decision was to treat the style of the dialogue bubbles differently to reflect the change in emotion. For example, when the emotion of the character is heightened, the style of the bubble is more severe with sharp edges.
A key challenge was developing the mastheads for the cover and title pages, as well as developing a textured image for the inside cover. We ended up with a paired back and simple font for the masthead to complement the detailed movie poster illustration on the cover. We used different weights in the font to add energy and highlight the moa plume or monoa, a key narrative throughout the story.
Additionally, the inside cover texture features the treasured moa plume.
To ensure the moa feathers were depicted accurately, we visited Te Papa and were fortunate to view their archive collection of feathers and cloaks.
Judges’ comments A fantastic duo — this Te Reo and English edition of a graphic novel telling the journey of a Kahungunu Chief and his exploits is a celebration of Te Ao Māori storytelling. The design shows mastery of all the elements we’ve come to expect in graphic novels, exploring emotion through dialogue bubbles, typographic sound effects and showing a sophisticated interplay between image and text. Tino pai!
