Roebourne

Coffee table book

Roebourne: 150 years 1866–2016 was designed and developed for the City of Karratha, Western Australia. It is a commemorative coffee table book that provides a brief insight into the past 150 years since colonial settlement.

Nikki M Group provided publishing services including:

• product and content development
• writing and editing
• graphic design
• typesetting
• print management.

Historical resource

This book is a historical resource for Roebourne and Western Australia. It combines significant events with photography that depicts a rich, diverse and often turbulent history. Photos – some never before published – were received from a variety of sources including:

• City of Karratha Local History Society
• Juluwarlu Group Aboriginal Corporation
• State Library of Western Australian
• National Library of Australia
• John Oxley Library
• West Australian Newspapers Limited
• Sisters of St John of God Heritage Centre Broome.

Book design

Roebourne: 150 years 1866–2016 was designed as a coffee table book. The book features large photos and generous white space. Photos have been arranged in multiple sizes ranging from large full-page hero images to smaller portrait-style photographs. The arrangement of images creates a visual hierarchy and structures the book into smaller sections that guide the reader through the history of Roebourne.

The book is unique in that it is in a landscape format – bound on the short side. At the time of printing, this was the largest landscape-size book that could be casebound in Australia.

The book features:

• full-colour offset printing
• high-quality gloss paper stock with environmental certification
• a laminated cover for durability
• section-sewn internal pages
• hard cover (casebound) binding
• head and tail bands.

Editorial services

Nikki M Group wrote, developed and structured content for this book. With only a collection of images and a basic brief to create a commemorative book, a narrative was created to frame 150 years into six distinct periods. The book documents the development of Roebourne from the birth of a town, through two world wars, and into the 21st century. Text was written to introduce each section, provide in-depth features and caption photos.

Print management

The City of Karratha wanted to print in Australia and support local industry. Nikki M Group provided print management services and technical expertise. This included:

• providing print specifications and costing
• document set up and design
• preparing press-ready files
• coordinating printing and binding
• organising logistics and delivery.

The books were printed and delivered to City of Karratha in time for the official launch, marking 150 years since Roebourne was officially gazetted – the oldest town between Geraldton and Darwin.