Jan Tschichold 'The Form of the Book: Essays on the Morality of Good Design':
A collection of essays on book production and editorial design.
Tschichold makes certain rules/statements about book production which have been useful to learn about, even if I don't agree with everything.
10 Common Mistakes in the Production of Books
1. Books that are too large and heavy are wrong as they are 'ugly and impractical'. Good proportions are 2:3, golden section and 3:4. Tschichold goes on to say that square books are a mistake, which I do not agree with. Square formatting could be informed by the content but it also could help to make a book look even and structured. However it can become impractical and not as easy to hold in the hand but that decision on size should be informed by the purpose.
2. Typesetting - indents - to make text easier to read. I agree they do help to break up large blocks of text but again depending on the purpose line breaks might not always be needed.
3. Chapters should look distinct. This is so that there is clear change rather than 'any other random page of text'. I think that this does help to provide some order and breaks up information more systematically.
4. Lack of form - the title of the chapter should be different from main text. Again I agree with Tschichold as it makes it clear to the reader and is easier to follow.
5. White paper - slight toning makes it less offensive, not as stark. I disagree with this view as stark white paper can easily add to the design and provide the right contrast to communicate it's message. However this will need to be something I consider when choosing stock for my publication.
6. White book cover is a no - delicate and easily dirty. I do agree with this to a certain extent but a white cover could easily be informed by the content, although I do think it is something I would avoid.
7. Flat spines on bound books - curved books easy to go through keeps pages in order - flat spines will be cockeyed. I will need to look into different binding methods to see if I can avoid this within my own design.
8. Gigantic vertical lettering on spines - titles on spines don't need to be legible. I agree with this vertical lettering that has been enlarged does not work it looks messy and is actually harder to read.
9. No lettering on the spine - can't locate. This is something I need to consider if my book is more than 3mm thick.
10. Ignorance for use of annotation / grammar markings. This is something I would make sure to check within my own work, as it is not usually suitable to use the wrong grammar etc.
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