Book design is the graphic art of determining the visual and physical characteristics of a book. The design process begins after an author and Editing finalize the manuscript, at which point it is passed to the production stage.
During production, Graphic designer, Art director, or professionals in similar roles will work with printing press operators to decide on visual elements—including typography, margins, Illustration, and page layout—and physical features, such as Book size, Paper, Printing, Bookbinding.From the late Middle Ages to the 21st century, the basic structure and organization of Western world books have remained largely unchanged.
Front matter introduces readers to the book, offering practical information like the title, author and publisher details, and an overview of the content. It may also include editorial or authorial notes providing context.Effective book design is a critical part of publishing, helping to communicate an Authorial intent and satisfy readers and often having great influence on the commercial, scholarly, or Artistic merit of a work. Designers use established principles and rules developed in the centuries following the advent of printing.
Contemporary Artist, Designer, Research, and Artisan who have contributed to the many theories of typography and book design include Jan Tschichold, Josef Müller-Brockman, Paul Rand, Johanna Drucker, Ellen Lupton, Wiliam Lidwell and others.
The first page of a printed book (no folio) containing only the title and nothing else, save for minor ornamentation. Traditional a single line of capital letters, the modern half title pages is often a scaled-down title in the same style as the title page. The half title is always on a recto (right-hand) page. |
A decorative illustration on the verso facing the title page that be an image or illustration related to the book's subject or a portrait of the author. Increasingly uncommon, the space is usually blank or replaced by a list of the author's previous works or other titles in a multi-author series. |
Repeats the title and author as printed on the cover or spine, often using typographic elements carried over from either the cover design or from the rest of the book's interior. Title pages may also include the publisher's logo accompanied by the city and/or year of publication. |
(Also known as Edition notice) Technical information such as edition dates, copyrights, translations used, and the name and address of the publisher or printer. It usually appears in modern books on the verso of the title page, but in some books is placed at the end (see Back matter). |
A dedication page is a page in a book that precedes the text, in which the author names the person or people for whom they have written the book. |
A phrase, quotation, or poem. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison, or to enlist a conventional context. |
This is a list of chapter headings and sometimes nested subheadings, together with their respective page numbers. This includes all front matter items listed below, together with chapters in the body matter and back matter. The number of levels of subheadings shown should be limited, so as to keep the contents list short, ideally one page, or possibly a double-page spread. Technical books may include a list of figures and a list of tables. In French language books, the table of contents is often part of the back matter rather than the front matter. |
Often, a foreword will tell of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the writer of the story, or a personal reaction and significance the story elicited. A foreword to later editions of a work often describes the work's historical context and explains in what respects the current edition differs from previous ones. |
A preface is generally the author recounting the story of how the book came into being, or how the idea for the book was developed. This is often followed by thanks and acknowledgments to people who were helpful to the author during the time of writing. |
Sometimes part of the preface rather than a separate section in its own right, or sometimes placed in the back matter rather than the front, it acknowledges those who contributed to the creation of the book. |
A beginning section which states the purpose and goals of the following writing. |
Usually present in fiction or narrative nonfiction, the prologue is an opening to the story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often from some earlier or later timeframe that ties into the main one. As such, it is generally considered part of the body in modern book organization (cf. Chicago Manual of Style). |
The first page of the actual text of a book is the opening page, which often incorporates special design features, such as . Arabic numbering starts at this first page. If the text is introduced by a second half title or opens with a part title, the half title or part title counts as page one. As in the front matter, page numbers are omitted on blank pages, and are either omitted or a drop folio is used on the opening page of each part and chapter. On pages containing only illustrations or tables, page numbers are usually omitted, except in the case of a long sequence of figures or tables.
The following are two instructive examples:
This piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama is usually used to bring closure to the work. |
The conclusion to a piece of work; this is considered the opposite of the intro. This term is more commonly used in music. |
An afterword generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or of how the idea for the book was developed. |
This supplemental addition to a given main work may correct errors, explain inconsistencies or otherwise detail or update the information found in the main work. |
The glossary consists of a set of definitions of words of importance to the work. They are normally alphabetized. The entries may consist of places and characters, which is common for longer works of fiction. |
This cites other works consulted when writing the body. It is most common in non-fiction books or research papers. |
This list of terms used in the text contains references, often page numbers, to where the terms can be found in the text. Most common in non-fiction books. |
This brief description may be located at the end of a book or on the verso of the title page. It describes production notes relevant to the edition, such as typeface used, and may include a printer's mark or logotype. |
A brief, single page-long biography of the author, sometimes accompanied by a photograph of them. It is written in the third-person narrative. (1995). 9780534240844, Wadsworth Publishing. ISBN 9780534240844 |
Arabic numbering continues for the back matter.
On the inside of the cover page, extending to the facing page is the front endpaper sometimes referred as FEP. The free half of the end paper is called a flyleaf. Traditionally, in hand-bound books, the endpaper was just a sheet of blank or ornamented paper physically masking and reinforcing the connection between the cover and the body of the book. In modern publishing it can be either plain, as in many text-oriented books, or variously ornamented and illustrated in books such as , other children's literature, some handicraft and hobbyist books, novelty/gift-market and coffee table books, and . Elaborate artwork is more expensive than plain paper, but it may be used when expected for the genre, or for an anniversary edition or other special edition of a book in any genre. These books have an audience and traditions of their own, in which the graphic design and immediacy is especially important and publishing tradition and formality are less important.
The spine is the vertical edge of a book as it normally stands on a bookshelf. Early books did not have titles on their spines; rather they were shelved flat with their spines inward and titles written with ink along their fore edges. Modern books display their titles on their spines.
In languages with Chinese-influenced writing systems, the title is written top-to-bottom. In languages written from left to right, the spine text can be pillar (one letter per line), transverse (text line perpendicular to long edge of spine) and along spine. Conventions differ about the direction in which the title along the spine is rotated:
In texts published or printed in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, Scandinavia and the Netherlands, the spine text, when the book is standing upright, runs from the top to the bottom. This means that when the book is lying flat with the front cover upwards, the title is oriented left-to-right on the spine. This practice is reflected in the industry standards ANSI/NISO Z39.41 ANSI/NISO Z39.41-1997 Printed Information on Spines and ISO 6357., ISO 6357 Spine titles on books and other publications, 1985. but "... lack of agreement in the matter persisted among English-speaking countries as late as the middle of the twentieth century, when books bound in Britain still tended to have their titles read up the spine ...".
In many continental European countries, where the ascending system has been used in the past, the descending system has been used in recent decades, probably due to the influence of the English-speaking countries, such as Italy, Russia, Poland and elsewhere.
In many continental European and Latin American countries, the spine text, when the book is standing upright, runs from the bottom up, so the title can be read by tilting the head to the left. This allows the reader to read spines of books shelved in alphabetical order in accordance to the usual way left-to-right and top-to-bottom.
The spine usually contains all, or some, of four elements (besides decoration, if any), and in the following order: (1) author, editor, or compiler; (2) title; (3) publisher; and (4) publisher logo.
On the inside of the back cover page, extending from the facing page before it, is the endpaper. Its design matches the front endpaper and, in accordance with it, contains either plain paper or pattern, image etc.
The back cover often contains biographical matter about the author or editor, and quotes from other sources praising the book. It may also contain a summary or description of the book
A less expensive binding method is that used for paperback books (sometimes called softback or softcover). Most paperbacks are bound with paper or light cardboard, though other materials (such as plastic) are used. The covers are flexible and usually bound to the pages using glue (perfect binding). Some small paperback books are sub-classified as pocketbooks. These paperbacks are smaller than usual—small enough to barely fit into a pocket (especially the back pocket of one's trousers). However, this capacity to fit into a pocket diminishes with increasing number of pages and increasing thickness of the book. Such a book may still be designated as a pocketbook.
Some books such as Bibles or dictionaries may have a thumb index to help find material quickly.
Gold leaf may also be applied to the edges of the pages, so that when closed, the side, top, and bottom of the book have a golden color. On some books, a design may be printed on the edges, or marbling or a simple colour applied. Some artist's books go even further, by using fore-edge painting. Features such as these colored page edges, or others such as using metallic foil elements, reversible Dust jacket, or affixing a ribbon for a bookmark, are often seen in special editions or when the publisher wants to signal that the book is a collectible.
Pop-up book elements and fold-out pages may be used to add dimensions to the page in different ways.
Children's books commonly incorporate a wide array of design features built into the fabric of the book. Some books for preschoolers include textured fabric, plastic on other materials. Die-cut techniques in the work of Eric Carle are one example. Clear or reflective surfaces, flaps, textiles, and scratch-and-sniff are other possible features.
The design of each individual page, on the other hand, is governed by the canons of page construction.
The possible layout of the sets of letters of the alphabet, or words, on a page is determined by the so-called print space, and is also an element in the design of the page of the book. There must be sufficient space at the spine of the book if the text is to be visible. On the other hand, the other three margins of the page, which frame the book, are made of the appropriate size for both practical and aesthetic reasons.
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