What happens when a designer is let loose

For ages now we've been wanting to do a book that really goes out there. With NZ publishing budgets though that can be a really hard ask. Then along came Katie Haworth from Penguin.
'this is a project I’d really like you to go to town on. Go nuts, go mad, have fun, dance on a figurative design table and kick the plates off.'

So Anita did and we've just got to see the printed copy and are thrilled with the results of the Great Rescue Race by Raymond McGrath.

Click on any of the images if you'd like to see them larger

Raymond's illustrations are so zany and full of action that it took us a proofing round to really let loose and catch on to the wackyness that Raymond was trying to portray. Coloured text is not usually something that publishers are keen to let loose with. It limits the opportunities for selling International Rights as translating into other languages costs more for reprinting in all four colours. But sometimes the effect is just too good to pass by.

We are very aware of the need to balance illustrations and text. You know, white space and room around the words to let them speak. It's so awesome to see this book throw all those rules out the window. The text and images all become one and with the text being multi coloured it just works. The whole zany feel just flows into one and creates a page that jumps out at you.

Thanks Penguin for the opportunity to produce this book. It's one we are going to be really proud of for a long time to come.