Project Overview
Round the bend
The creation, destruction by fire and recovery of Tambreet Gardens.
On Black Saturday, 7 February 2009, uncontrollable bushfires in the state of Victoria, Australia burnt hundreds of thousands of hectares. Over a hundred and fifty lives were lost, more than 1,500 houses were destroyed, entire towns were left unrecognisable.
As avid gardeners Sean and Esther Leahy rebuilt their devastated six acre garden, Esther Leahy documented and photographed this remarkable story of fire and recovery. Vivid photographs accompany a highly readable and botanically accurate text.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Esther Leahy - Author and publisher
Carol Mackay - Designer
Pam Ball - Editor
Greg Branson - Production management
Project Brief
Background
Esther and Sean Leahy own Tambreet Retreat - a beautiful hide-away on the bend of the Traralgon Creek in south eastern Victoria. Esther has always kept a diary, but it was only after Black Saturday she thought of publishing the contents. What started as a story about searching for the perfect garden plot turned into a journey that included planning, nurturing and enjoying their land only to watch it destroyed in the Black Saturday fires. Esther and Sean doggedly fought the fire, regrouped to begin the process of replanting only to have the floods of February 2010 destroy half of it again.
The objective:
Design a book that encapsulates over 1600 photographs and a riveting story about two people, their friends, their families, their community and their garden.
The solution:
The design had two missions.
Firstly to deliver Esther's voice through her unique writing style directly to the page without translation.
Secondly, to unite the 1,600 photographs (chosen from over 8,000 taken) that were shot with a wide range of skill and a variety of digital cameras.
Project Need
The book is unique because it records the four year recovery of a garden after a bushfire. There are no other publications that give a written and photographic record of this recovery process.
Esther and Sean's conclusions about fire readiness and garden design are counter to the commonly held belief about native gardens.
Stephen Ryan, one of Australia's leading garden writers and TV/radio commentator said:
'Powerful writing, a triumphant book – an intriguing story of nature’s strength, and people’s resilience and determination after Black Saturday’s destruction. For gardeners there’s so much accurate botanic information and detail about plants’ recovery after fire.'
Stephen Ryan
Design Challenge
The challenge was to make sure the design did not take over from the unique writing style of the author. The secondary challenge was to get appropriate photographs that illustrated the story. This required Carol to rapidly gain an understanding of all the plants in the gardens to ensure that each image was placed with relevant text.
The design solution delivered a page grid that presented the text and images within a hierarchy, directing readers to areas of focus in the rich, over-sized pages. The ensuing challenge was to ensure the grid wasn't predictable and the layout of over 250 pages could keep a reader's interest.
The book was produced in Australia, to a tight budget for the 4th anniversary of Black Saturday anniversary.Round the bend is written in a very unique style.
Sustainability
Esther strongly believed that a printed book was the better method for telling the story. The tactile experience of a book reflected the garden experience in her mind.
The extent and page size ensured that there was an economical cut from the sheet, minimising waste.
The book was printed in Australia inspite of getting cheaper print quotes from Asia. This reduced the carbon footprint that comes from transporting the printed books thousands of kilometers.
The book was printed on Australian made Grange Offset which is PEFC certified and manufactured in a facility with ISO 14001 EMS certification. It is made elemental chlorine free.
Graphic Design - Publication
This award celebrates creative and innovative design in the traditional or digital visual representation of ideas and messages. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching of information style to audience.
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