Everything about this book is right: the illustrations, the placing of the hand-lettered text, the choice of paper and the decision to use just a single spot colour in each story. With all this, plus the evident craftsmanlike skill and care that has been lavished upon it, In the Pines definitely belongs in this year’s selection. Without deviating from its stylistic principles the book exudes the same attitude with an eye for quality in production. It’s a bold move to bring out In the Pines (including a CD of ‘5 Murder Ballads’) as a commercial publication.
Erik Kriek – In the Pines. 5 Murder Ballads
Edition: 2016
Language: Dutch
Publisher: Scratch Books, Amsterdam
Designer: Rob Westendorp, Amsterdam, hand lettering by Frits Jonker, Amsterdam
Lithographer: Rob Westendorp, Amsterdam
Printer: Wilco Boeken en Tijdschriften, Amersfoort, print management by Tim Beijer Producties, Utrecht
Binder: Wilco Boeken en Tijdschriften, Amersfoort (CD glued to the inside of the binding)
Dimensions: 200 x 275 x 11
Amount of pages: 136 p.
Number of copies: 3,000
Price: € 29.90
ISBN: 978 94 92117 39 7
Font and foundry: Eames Century Modern (House Industries)
Binding style: sewn hardback, half linen, with a rounded spine, foil stamping on the spine, anti-scratch matt lamination and spot varnishing on the binding
Material: 130gsm Munken Pure (interior), 170gsm Munken Pure (endpapers), 150gsm woodfree glazed MC over 2.5 mm grey board, Brillianta Calandré 34038 (binding)