Christopher Finlayson, James Christmas | HUIA PublishersDesigning a book on treaty settlements
He Kupu Taurangi deals with some of the most consequential legal and political work in modern Aotearoa – Treaty settlements between iwi and the Crown, told from the perspective of the minister who oversaw an unprecedented number of them.
Creative thinking
The design had to earn its place alongside the subject matter. The tone is clean and authoritative, respecting the weight of the content rather than competing with it. The subject matter needed to read and feel like the serious piece of legal and political history it is.
Creative doing
Typography, layout and hierarchy were all built around clarity and a design language was developed for a legal and political non-fiction book, giving structure to dense analysis of settlements, natural resources, co-governance and legal personality without ever feeling heavy-handed or hard to navigate.
Creative partners
Delivered in close collaboration with Huia Publishers' in-house editorial and production teams.
Cover design by Te Kani Price
Cover artwork: ‘The Apology’ by Piera McArthur
The outcome
He Kupu Taurangi was longlisted for General Non-Fiction at the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards – recognition for a book that needed to hold its own in a field of serious, consequential non-fiction.
Purchase the book or learn more at HUIA Publishers.
