An Auckland Book With A Difference

Over the last 18 months some of NZ's top young illustrators have been busy drawing Auckland. The result is truly wonderful -  The Auckland Book – a gloriously illustrated tribute to the City of Sails.

The Auckland Book celebrates all things Auckland and aims to capture the Auckland your camera can’t in 128pp of colourful, hand drawn pictures. I have spent the morning reading it and taking huge delight in the way that it covers many different aspects of the city from its history and geography through to its communities, past times and favourite haunts. Quirky and great fun.

Publishers FitzBeck Creative, the brains behind the best-selling, award-winning NZ Book, decided NZ’s leading city deserved a book all its own.

They contacted AUT and put together a team of seven illustrators to draw the city in a fresh way, working with experienced art directors.

FitzBeck director Mike Fitzsimons says, “Auckland is a city on a roll. It consistently ranks amongst the world’s most desirable places to live. We wanted to create a book that did justice to that.”

“There are loads of books about Auckland filled with photos, but we wanted to create something much more imaginative. A book that actually captures the confidence and energy of the place.  What better way than getting a team of young Aucklanders to interpret the city through their eyes?  

“Feedback from retailers and tourist organizations has been very positive so far. Readers will find it fun, funky and informative - a great gift for locals and visitors.

“We are very proud of what the 10 of us have accomplished over the last 18 months and we hope Aucklanders enjoy all our hard work.”

Good on you lads, you have done us proud and I'll wager that many a copy of this terrific publication will be winging its way overseas to ex-pat Aucklanders.

Here are a few samples of the illustrations:

.And here is Fitzbeck's introduction to the book which helped me understand why the book is such an outstanding success:

 How do you draw Auckland?

 You get walking and driving …. everywhere. A bunch of you, heading in all directions, over many months.

You take in the grand circle views from Mangere Mountain, One Tree Hill and North Head. You journey up and down Great South Road like it’s your own driveway, you cross-cross the bridge many times, you head for the bush and black sands of the wild West. You visit the beaches, the malls and the markets.

You walk the Wynyard, dine at the Depot, settle in at the Gypsy Tearooms and the Blue Breeze. You get out on the harbour where there are more boats per head of population than anywhere else in the world. You drop in at the cathedrals and roar on the Warriors. You feel the blast of the market where a run-down fixer-upper is about to go for well over the mill. You amble along the Shore’s coastal walkway.

You cast your mind back to earlier days, to the movers and shakers of yesteryear. You remember the huge events – the America’s Cup and the Rugby World Cup, the big concerts and community celebrations when half the city hit the town.

You witness the daily transformation of landscape and skyline. You feel the pull of a city that is becoming a magnet for people from all over the world.

You ask family and friends, bar staff and baristas, taxi-drivers and real estate agents, musicians and executives, what makes the place tick. What would they draw?

And then you apply a ton of imagination. You put together a team of illustrators and challenge them to capture the Auckland your camera can’t. You warn them they are up for a mountain of work. You sketch and refine, you debate colour palettes and perspectives, you swap files and ideas endlessly.

Eventually, you assemble a giant, panoramic vision of a young city on a roll. An aqua-tinted South Pacific metropolis like no other, thriving on a narrow neck of land.

You discover a city that is not just a great place to live but an intriguing place to draw.

And then you cross your fingers and hope people like it.

Arohanui

Michael Fitzsimons    Nigel Beckford

(aka FitzBeck)

Footnote:
RRP $50.00 - In bookstores now and will be formally launched at Mt.Eden's famous Time Out Bookstore on 25 August.