The Spectrum Print Book Design Awards shortlist has just been announced, and two photographic books dominate it.

Central and New Home Cooking are both in the running for Best Book, Best Cover and Best Typography. Central was designed by Athena Sommerfeld for Penguin, while New Home Cooking was designed by by Peter Roband of pHd3 for Random House.

Things to note: there are no novels on the shortlist this year. The judges have strongly favoured what could be called ‘lifestyle magazine’ type photography.

Also: Craig Potton Publishing, which won three categories last year, has not made the shortlist this year. And surprisingly, neither has Wellingtonian Sarah Maxey, widely regarded as New Zealand’s best book designer. The 2003 award for Best Cover went to her design for Dog by C.K. Stead.

The 2004 winners will be announced on Saturday 24 July at the Booksellers’ Conference in Auckland. Just over 150 entries were received from 26 publishers, and these are the ones that made the grade:

BEST BOOK

Central designed by Athena Sommerfeld
Text by Philip Temple
Photography by Arno Gasteiger
Published by Penguin Group (NZ)

New Home Cooking designed by Peter Roband (pHd3)
Written by Laurie Black
Photographed by Kieran Scott
Published by Random House NZ

BEST COVER

Central designed by Athena Sommerfeld

New Home Cooking designed by Peter Roband (pHd3)

Tranquillity designed by Trevor Newman
Written by Terry Winn
Published by New Holland Publishers

BEST TYPOGRAPHY

Central designed by Athena Sommerfeld

Maori Art: The Photography of Brian Brake designed by Sally Fullam
Edited by Sam Hill
Published by Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd

New Home Cooking designed by Peter Roband (pHd3)
Written by Laurie Black
Photographed by Kieran Scott
Published by Random House NZ

BEST USE OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Napoleon and the Chicken Farmer designed by Graeme Gash
Written by Lloyd Jones
Published by Mallinson Rendel

Oh Hogwash, Sweet Pea! illustrated by Ali Teo and Astrid Jensen
Written by Ngareta Gabel
Translated by Hannah Rainforth
Designed by Astrid Jensen (Skulduggery)
Published by Huia Publishers

The Last Great Adventure of Sir Peter Blake designed by Nick Turzynski
Edited by Alan Sefton
Published by Penguin Group (NZ)

The judges for this year’s awards are:

• Dorothy Vinicombe, book promotions manager for the Whitcoulls group

• Adrian Clapperton, art director at magazine publisher AGM

• Stephen Stratford, book editor and publishing consultant, vice president of the New Zealand Society of Authors and a former judge of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards

Want more information? Contact Lorraine Steele at HarperCollins on (09) 443-8954 or via email.