Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand: The Māori Portraits has a compelling, contemporary feel while remaining respectful of Lindauer’s historical portraits. It was important that the book recognised the mana of the subjects, their significance to descendants, and fulfilled its role in returning these ancestors to their people.
It is unusual to have four different covers for a single book, but this approach was adopted early in the project to acknowledge the four iwi directly connected to Auckland Art Gallery. The final image selection was made in close consultation with iwi after a wider range of images were presented in draft designs.
The jackets have changing but related colourways and a common image of Lindauer on the back cover. The colours and typography were carried over to the exhibition branding and marketing and used with interchangeable portraits for different purposes (posters, banners, adverts etc). The colourways were inspired by Lindauer’s palette, and influenced by traditional Māori pigments.
Judged Best Book in show at the 2017 Museums Australasia Multimedia & Publication Design Awards (MAPDA) and a finalist in the PANZ New Zealand Book Awards and Designers Institute Best Design Awards.
