WORDS Robyn Alexander PHOTOS Supplied, Gestalten (Slow Escapes), Leander/Nardin/Gestalten (Life on the Road)

Monday to Sunday Athens

by Seda Domaniç and Yannis Zaras (Monday to Sunday, 2025)

This evocative travel guide sets out the details of spending a full week exploring almost every aspect of a single city – Athens – and its surroundings, as well as the adjacent islands of Hydra, Aegina and Agistri. “We chose Athens as our next destination as it is a city with a new story to share. Many travellers expect Athens to be defined by its ancient ruins, with the Acropolis looming over the city. Yet Athens is a place where past and present coexist, sometimes in tension, but always in a way that sparks curiosity,” say the book’s authors. Their unique guide – which looks at culture, history, art, design, gastronomy and entertainment – encourages visitors to take the time required to delve into the city’s vibrant present as well as its storied past, and follows on from the successful first book of a planned series, Monday to Sunday Istanbul. Featuring more than 330 gorgeous photographs, Monday to Sunday Athens also includes 29 interviews with the city’s leading chefs, artists, academics, architects, designers and entrepreneurs. | mondaytosundaybook.com

Slow Escapes: Rural Retreats for Conscious Travellers

by Gestalten and Clara Le Fort (editors) (Gestalten, 2022)

From the Fogo Island Inn, a hotel set on an island off an island in the North Atlantic, to a new-age fi nca in the heart of Andalusia in Spain, Slow Escapes explores hotels, guesthouses and hospitality venues that are reinvigorating rural areas by attempting to create meaningful connections between people and places. The principles of community, sustainability and seasonality – as well as a commitment to the preservation of heritage and culture – form a key part of the vision that sustains these holiday properties, reflecting a real dedication by all of them to the principles of slow living. | gestalten.com

Life on the Road: Around the World on Four Wheels

by Gestalten, Leander Nardin and Maria Zehentner (editors) (Gestalten, 2025)

In 2014, Maria Zehentner and Leander Nardin bought an old Mercedes-Benz truck, and aft er plenty of research and budgeting, transformed it into a mobile home for themselves. The compact, wood-lined cabin – just 12m2 in size – includes a double bed that morphs into a table and seating area, a separate bunk bed above that, clever storage solutions, plus a sink and a toilet. And in December 2016, the couple and their four-year-old son Lennox set out on what became a seven-year journey that saw them circumnavigate the globe, taking in Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, Indonesia, Australia and North America. It was the epitome of slow travel – and Life on the Road beautifully chronicles this truly unique family trip. | gestalten.com

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The post Steady On appeared first on Visi.

The Good Book Appreciation Society’s new Book Cover Design Awards prove that South African shelves are heaving with design talent.

Don’t the adage warns us, judge a book by its cover. And yet, of course we do. Unless a friend or a book club tip-off steers us in the right direction, it’s the cover – perhaps even just the spine – that first tempts us to lift a book from the shelf.

Celebrating this under-appreciated art form is what Paige Nick set out do in 2021, with the inaugural Good Book Appreciation Society (GBAS) Cover Design Awards.

Beyond her day job in advertising, Paige started the GBAS in 2012 as a private Facebook space for like-minded readers to share and discuss their favourite books. It’s had remarkable success, and is today an active community of more than 17 000 bibliophiles.

“Book covers are where my two worlds collide – my love for design in advertising, and the world of publishing,” says Paige. “A cover is the gateway to a book, and South Africa doesn’t have any book cover design awards – so I thought it would be an interesting exercise.”

With five categories ranging from non-fiction to poetry and illustration, the awards received 300 entries that each went through a rigorous judging process. To balance a creative eye with a nose for commercial success, Paige chose diverse judges, with the 2021 panel made up of acclaimed multidisciplinary artist Faith47; chief creative officer at GridWorldwide Nathan Reddy; artist and author Mohale Mashigo; and Mervyn Sloman, owner of Cape Town’s much- loved The Book Lounge.

But what makes a great cover? Beauty and creativity alone won’t sell books. Judges based their choices on originality in thought and design, beauty in design, relevance to the genre and ability to stand out on the shelf.

“There are certain global trends that sweep through publishing – last year it was all neon colours and botanicals on the cover – but within those, we definitely have our own local feel,” says Paige. “In South Africa, we’re often limited by budgets, so we have to be a little smarter and more experimental. That has created a huge design culture that really sets us apart. Plus, we have so many African influences that are beautiful, and trending right now – which puts us on the cutting edge of design.”

Winning Covers

NON-FICTION African Europeans: An Untold History by Olivette Otele (Jacana), designed by Russell Stark

FICTION Junx by Tshidiso Moletsane (Umuzi), designed by Fahiema Hallam

FMR POETRY AWARD Years Of Fire And Ash: South African Poems Of Decolonisation (Jonathan Ball), designed by Michiel Botha

HONORARY SPECIAL MENTION Vier Susters by Gerda Taljaard (Penguin Random House), designed by Russell Stark

AFRICA BOOK & DESIGN FESTIVAL AWARD FOR ILLUSTRATION EXCELLENCE Wayfarers’ Hymns by Zakes Mda (Umuzi), designed by Gretchen van der Byl

GBAS READERS’ CHOICE AWARD Glass House by Chinenye Emezie (Penguin Random House), designed by Georgia Demertzis

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The post Cover Stars appeared first on Visi.