Book design is an art. And it is one of the mostchallenging of the design disciplines. When executed well, it’s a beautiful marriage of words and images dancing together in perfect harmony, each supporting and enhancing the other.
"The Little Red Book of Fun" cover design by Stephanie Orma for Gibbs Smith Publisher. Photo Courtesy Stephanie Orma / Orma Design.
Yet, when I tell people that I design books for a living their response usually goes something like this: “That’s cool….so what exactly do you do?” When most people think of book design, they picture some sort of Danielle Steel paperback with generic type, text dropped into book format, page numbers stuck in the corners, all printed on cheap newspaper stock. But there are thousands upon thousands of books that have been designed. And by designed, I mean the essence of the printed words have been translated to the visual.
Book design is an art. And it is one of the mostchallenging of the design disciplines. When executed well, it’s a beautiful marriage of words and images dancing together in perfect harmony, each supporting and enhancing the other.
Yet, when I tell people that I design books for a living their response usually goes something like this: “That’s cool….so what exactly do you do?” When most people think of book design, they picture some sort of Danielle Steel paperback with generic type, text dropped into book format, page numbers stuck in the corners, all printed on cheap newspaper stock. But there are thousands upon thousands of books that have been designed. And by designed, I mean the essence of the printed words have been translated to the visual.
According to Ayako Akazawa, an incredibly talented senior designer at San Francisco-based Chronicle Books, “Book design is not a mere task of typesetting. The size of the book, its weight, its choice of paper, its fonts and their size, amount of space around it…all these minute details are carefully designed to evoke readers’ senses, let him/her be able to see, touch and feel the spirit of the content.”
An example of great book design is “The Little Red Book of Fun: Lessons Learned from Playing the Harmonica,” which I created for Gibbs Smith Publisher (slated for September 2009 release). In designing this playful, inspiring, music book, every element was thoughtfully considered. One hundred and forty four pages plus cover were hand-designed from the selection and arrangement of the whimsical typography, to the chapter openers shaped as enlarged half notes, to the history of the harmonica timeline represented via a musical staff bar. Thus, reading the “The Little Red Book of Fun” becomes a joyful experience for all the senses to delight.
Many speculate that in the very near future tangible, touchable books will be a thing of the past. With the arrival of Kindle and other electronic book readers, it certainly looks like this is the direction we’re headed. No one knows for sure what will happen. In the meanwhile, as long as great designers and publishers produce books that make the already enjoyable task of reading that much more entertaining, I will continue shamelessly indulging my senses, as well.
(originally appeared in SF Examiner 4/03/09)