This impressive example jumps out among the trend for ‘botanical books’ thanks to the extremely painstaking way it has been made and the tasteful design choices. The zooming-in movement as the driving impetus for the lay-out is particularly lovely: from enchanting details at the beginning to an overview of the entire collection of botanical prints in the middle. The most interesting elements in this collection are right in the front of the book, immediately seducing the reader into reading on, but without giving too much away. After the middle section the focus reverses, from overview to details. The illustrations on the text pages are printed in duotone green, which brings calm to these pages and makes them clearly distinct from the collection pages. The visual index of different techniques is printed in white and silver, and thanks to the green paper is easy to find. Some members of the jury found the cover a little less successful. The embossing with its many details and nuances in height and thickness is very cleverly done from a technical point of view, but the image doesn’t perhaps say as much as it could. The price too raised questions. On the one hand it is understandable that a book on which this level of care has been lavished will have a higher price ticket, but on the other it’s a shame that this restricts the target group exclusively to collectors.
Matthew Zucker, Pia Östlund
Capturing Nature
Edition: 2022
Date of publication: July 2022
Language: English
Translator: Ellen Lapper, Kim Glassman, Andrew Kerr-Jarrett
Final editor: Laura Didyk, Andrew Kerr-Jarrett, Barbera Mirecki
Image editor: Matthew Zucker, Pia Östlund, Haller Brun
Photographer: Martin Slivka
Publisher: Zucker Art Books, New York (US)
Available through: Webshop
Graphic designer: Haller Brun (Amsterdam)
Lithographer: robstolk®, Amsterdam
Printer: robstolk®, Amsterdam
Binder: Boekbinderij Patist, Zaltbommel
Size book block (w x h x d in mm): 232 x 330 x 28 mm
Number of pages: 352
Print run: 500
Price: € 250
ISBN: 9780979032134
Font and foundry: Gerstner Programm (Forgotten Shapes), Ivar Text (Letters from Sweden)
Binding style: Sewn Patastar, dust jacket is glued to the cover using back bonding in hot melt
Paper for interior (grammage): 115gsm Lessebo Design Smooth 1.2 Natural, 80gsm Rebello 110 CIE, 120gsm Forever Sap Green, Igepa
Material cover (grammage): 270gsm Forever Sap Green, Igepa
Material slip case (grammage): 270gsm Forever Sap Green, Igepa
Special features: Cover printed in Pantone 877 (silver), blind embossing pointing upwards on both front and back (KuiperDonse, Utrecht), interior printed partly in CMYK, Pantone 877 (silver), Pantone 356 (green) and opaque white, partly in duotone (Pantone 375 and Pantone 356), a leporello of 14 pages (227 x 327 mm) included, printed in CMYK on 80gsm Rebello (Igepa) on one side
Awards: Honorary Appreciation - Best Book Design from all over the World