I have a love/hate relationship with typography. Love in the sense that I am so passionate about the craft, I’ll stay up night upon night tweaking the type in a design so it’s just right. Hours will fly by, darkness will turn to dawn, but I won’t have cared or noticed because the type is all I see. Love in the sense that when I spot gorgeous typography, I simply cannot stop staring at the awe inspiring, drool-worthy brilliance. But typography is also my chief nemesis. It’s not a skill that comes naturally to me. And some days it feels like a constant uphill battle. It’s frustrating, it’s maddening, and probably even more so because of my fervent passion for the craft.
Typography is arguably the single most challenging element in graphic design to master, and likewise, the most crucial. The designers I have interviewed today are champions of typography and frankly, my personal design heroes. Their mastery of working with type is nothing short of downright enviable: Aya Akazawa, senior designer of Chronicle Books and sole designer of Souffle by Le Petit Graphiste; Todd Hedgpeth principal and creative director of Tawd Design and graphic design instructor at Academy of Art University; John Barretto art director and senior designer of Tolleson Design; Max Spector, art director and senior design of Chen Design; and Josh Chen, principal and creative director of Chen Design. Moderated by San Francisco graphic designer and copywriter Stephanie Orma of Orma Design and She’s SO Creative, the five acclaimed designers talk good type / bad type and share insightful tips for newbie designers to seasoned professional alike seeking to master the art of typography.
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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)