The Wellington Book - Expanded Edition

FitzBeck Publishing, Wellington, 2012. Second edition.
If you like Wellington, you'll love this gloriously illustrated celebration of one of the world's coolest and quirkiest cities. The Wellington Book celebrates all things Wellingtonian in 120 gloriously illustrated pages. The book is the brainchild of Fitzbeck Creative directors Mike Fitzsimons and Nigel Beckford. Concluding that existing tourist books did no justice to the city's creative reputation, they resolved to create something that captured the city in a way no camera ever could. They drew up a list of their favourite Wellington haunts and worked with two young illustrators, Sandi MacKechnie and Jess Lunnon, to bring their vision to life. Each picture was painstakingly built up in layers over five months with all four contributing ideas and elements. The result is a visual feast that is colourful, quirky, funky and mildy educational. The book captures the real Wellington - from the hardy dog walkers of Lyall Bay to tooting in the Mt Vic tunnel, hair-raising landings at the airport and glorious summer days on Oriental Parade. The book is designed to appeal to locals and visitors alike and would make a great gift.