Creative Works Portfolio; Giramondo Publishers

BackgroundThe research contributes to the field of communication design practice, specifically the intersection of graphic design and literature. To communicate their long-term commitment to Australian literature, Giramondo Publishing, award-winning publishers of emerging and established Australian writers, commissioned me to develop a new design strategy. Methodological connections between literary publishing strategy and visual identity design are under-researched in publication design.ContributionThe research tested the flexibility and longevity of the practical set of visual components established in 2021 to communicate the quality and variety of Giramondo’s publishing list and provide the basis for the company’s future design initiatives. The cover designs re-establish and unify the company’s identity, signify the literary values it endorses, identify the distinct types of literature it publishes, the uniqueness of each book, and point towards future systems within Giramondo’s identity.SignificanceAfter a survey of available Australian book design practitioners, I was commissioned by Giramondo – high-profile publishers of Australian literary authors, including Alexis Wright, Gerald Murnane and Brian Castro, and recipients of an Australia Council Grant 2021-2024 – to evolve the company’s long-standing, award winning design collaborations with Harry Williamson, Hall of Fame inductee of the Australian Book Designers Association and the Australian Graphic Designers Association. After undergoing the company’s editorial processes, including consultation between designer and publisher, and case by case author consultation, the published designs cover a range of genres – poetry, fiction, biography and non-fiction – but the typographical consistency and imagery ranging from medieval to surreal, mark them out as distinctively Giramondo titles. New and Selected Poems by J.S. Harry is shortlisted for a 2022 ABDA design award in the Best Designed Literary Fiction Cover.