Announcing COVER STORY, a real-time design event kicking-off on April 28th. For one week only, artist Todd Atticus will design a book cover live and from scratch in the window of Unity Books Wellington.
Every stage of the creation of the cover artwork for forthcoming novel And How Are Things With You by Mia Farlane will be conducted in public. Come along and witness this unique public performance.
COVER STORY
28 April – 4 May
10am – 2pm daily
Unity Books, 57 Willis Street, Wellington
Photograph by @russell_kleyn@toddatticus@unitybookswgtn@makaropress@miafarlane.writer
The pieces in Picking up the Pieces are bold, playful interventions in the heritage rooms and thoroughfares of Inverlochy House. The paintings inject colour and pattern amidst the worn wood trim and ornament of this grand Victorian mansion.
Amongst the works in the show are two movements: Handling Instructions, a large, three-panelled painting of symbols denoting fragility; and Sixteen Doses, a suite of small canvas works exploring the geometry of three white circles against blue.
Both of these works, exhibited here for the first time, ask whether vulnerability can be flipped on its head, or made into an opportunity. As Churchill famously said during World War II, never let a good crisis go to waste. If a pill is hard to swallow, chop it up first.
Good news! My current exhibition Low has been extended by three weeks. So if you haven’t had a chance to check it out, it’ll be open until June 5.
Viewing by appointment only. Email [email protected] for more info.
Cover reveal!
Pleased to share the final cover for And How Are Things With You by Mia Farlane, publishing in Aotearoa NZ this September from Mākaro Press.
Design by Todd Atticus
All will be revealed on Tuesday!
Join artist Todd Atticus, author Mia Farlane, and publishers Mary McCallum and Paul Stewart for a lunchtime conversation about book cover design and the process of creating one in public for forthcoming Mākaro Press novel And How Are Things With You.
Tuesday 5 May, 12:30pm
Unity Books,
57 Willis Street,
Wellington
Photo of Todd Atticus: Stephen Olsen
Photo of Mia Farlane: Marine Place
@toddatticus@miafarlane.writer@mary.danae.mccallum@stewartpaulmccallum@makaropress@unitybookswgtn
Ever Judged a Book by its Cover? 📚
At the front entrance of Unity Books Wellington this week, book cover designer Todd Atticus is undertaking an unusual creative challenge - designing multiple potential book covers in real time, under the watchful eyes of customers, curious pedestrians and Wellington’s book-loving public.
The live installation forms part of Cover Story, a week-long event that pulls back the curtain on the often unseen process of book design. By the end of the week, the artwork journey for Mia Farlane’s forthcoming novel And How Are Things With You will culminate in a public “cover reveal” and panel discussion on Tuesday 5 May.
Throughout the week, Atticus will work from inside the bookstore frontage, inviting conversations with patrons as he experiments with concepts, typography and visual direction for the novel’s cover. The project has been described as both a creative performance and a rare insight into the craft of book design - an opportunity for the public to witness the evolution of an idea from rough concept through to finished artwork.
For Atticus, the event also carries a personal connection.
“I’m a former member of the Unity whānau and the idea for staging this tickled my funny bone,” he said. “It has bubbled in my mind for a long time.”
Todd says, “It’s been a really great first few days, with lots of people either stopping to chat in the shop, or watching the activity on the screen from the street. I’ve still got lots to create and design over the next five days however!”
Cover Story is running at Unity Books, 57 Willis Street, until next Monday, May 4th, 10am - 2pm daily.
📷 Todd Atticus
The stage is set. Cover Story commences at 10am on Tuesday. Come along to Unity Books Wellington to witness artist Todd Atticus design a book cover live and from scratch for the forthcoming novel And How Are Things With You by Mia Farlane.
@toddatticus@unitybookswgtn@miafarlane.writer@makaropress
Sharing a brand new cover for The Rehearsal, the debut novel by Booker prize-winner author Eleanor Catton.
This new paperback format, featuring cover artwork by Yvonne Todd, is publishing in Aotearoa New Zealand this July from Te Herenga Waka University Press.
Cover design by Todd Atticus.
@thwupbooks@yvonne__todd@toddatticus
Blue Period No. 2, 2025
Emulsion on marble
10 x 10 x 10cm
Recently exhibited in Picking Up the Pieces, 12th – 30th January 2026, Inverlochy Art School, Wellington, New Zealand
