Upstart Press Award for Best Non-Illustrated Book 2022

Finalist

Designers: Megan van Staden
Title: Tree Sense: Ways of thinking about trees

Publisher: Massey University Press
Format: 198 x 128mm, 256pp. Paperback, cover with a jacket on uncoated stock.

Typography: Body serif: Baskervill 12/18. Headings: GT Alpina Fine Extended Medium 25/31 and Extended Light 15/16

GT Alpina proudly calls itself a workhorse serif, but delights in playing with the very meaning of that concept. It reaches into the grab bag of typographic history to resurrect shapes some may falsely see as too expressive, resulting in a meticulous family melding these distinct shapes with a pragmatic execution. I loved the thicker horizontal strokes of this font accentuated with the rounded terminals, giving the font a bit of quirk which I felt accentuated Nancy’s beautiful illustrations.