Design Book Scraps
- Robert Bringhurst
The Elements of Typographic Style.
This a digital scrapbook of typography and book design examples. I am a fan of the unconventional, so a number of the design features here are examples that go against the 'norm', though sometimes, as you will see, this is done to the detriment of the book.
There are 15 examples per page. I have listed the title, author, date and publisher of each book, as well as the designer, where possible. The hyperlinks provided will open in a new window. In addition, I have provided the cover images for each book to make it easy to identify each example I am discussing.
As a disclaimer, I claim no copyright over the images I have used. They exist purely as an educational resource.
Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy.
- Keri Trim
Whitireia Publishing 2011
The Bedside Book of Birds - Graeme Gibson, 2005
Published by Bloomsbury
Designed by CS Richardson
This book might just be the overall best design I’ve come across. The typeface, paper stock, text panels, margins, treatment of images, subdued use of colour, title page- everything has been taken into account, with beautiful results.
Wolves Eat Dogs - Martin Cruz Smith, 2004
Published by Simon & Schuster
Text spreads are tricky- you only know what you’re looking for until you find something you don’t like. After a couple of ‘blargh/ick/ew yuck’ books, I found this, which has a lot going in it’s favour. Typeface, point size, leading, margins, paragraph indent… all are working together nicely. Above all, however, it has symmetry.
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez, 2009
Published by Penguin
Here is one of the previously mentioned ‘blargh/ick/ew yuck’ text spreads. The typeface isn’t great, the print is inky, the paper is like newsprint, the outside margin is barely there and, overall, it looks poorly executed.
Snuff - Chuck Palahniuk, 2008
Published by Jonathan Cape
Designed by Michael Salu
Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk, 2002
Published by Vintage
Designed by Dana Leigh Teglia
Many of Chuck Palahniuk’s books have adopted the practice of putting the half-title at the very end of the front pages, right before the first chapter, as if to say, ‘[insert name of book] You ready? Here we go-’ (which, given the nature of Chuck Palahniuk’s books, makes sense). Unconventional, but it works.
The Bedside Book of Birds - Graeme Gibson, 2005
Published by Bloomsbury
Designed by CS Richardson
Another example of how brilliantly designed this book is. The title page is presented over a spread where every element is in harmony. The words- their colour and how they are shaped- reflect and balance the illustration. Beautiful.
Little Things to Sew - Liesl Gibson, 2011
Published by Stewart, Tabori and Chang
Designed by Brooke Reynolds for inchmark
This is an example of one of the fantastic page spreads in this book, where everything works together to great effect. Stand-alone pages of images compliment each new project being introduced and are supported by additional illustrations. Choices of typeface and small details, like that pattern-imitating dashed line under the title, add to the overall cute DIY-crafts factor.
Lost - Alice Lichtenstein, 2010
Published by Scribner
Designed by Carla Jayne Jones
In an otherwise perfectly acceptable book, the second line of this chapter stands out like a sore thumb. An orphan- and it’s not even a complete word. Change the tracking or the kerning; don’t use caps for the whole first line- anything but this.
The Fry Chronicles - Stephen Fry, 2010
Published by Michael Joseph (Penguin)
This is an unintentionally large-print book. The type has to be at least 14pt- even given the page size, it’s huge! Did they test an audience of Stephen Fry’s readers and find that many have impaired eyesight?
Tree of Man - Patrick White, 2009
Published by Vintage Classics
Designed by Jenny Grigg
The leading here is very tight- the tops of the ascenders and bottoms of the descenders are touching. This, combined with the very heavy typeface, is a burden on readability.
Lifespan Development: New Zealand Perspectives - Edited by Jason Low and Paul Jose, 2nd Ed., 2010
Published by Pearson Education
Designed by Marie Low
My goodness, if the design for this book isn’t all kinds of wrong. It’s a psychological research book, but this isn’t reflected by the cover or typefaces chosen at all. While it may be an attempt at being contemporary, the design does not by any means reflect the contents or tone of the book.
Love Wins - Rob Bell, 2011 (eBook)
Published by HarperOne
It might be the Kindle versions of eBooks I’ve been looking at, but there is a whole lot that gets lost in translation from print to electronic formats. Orphans, awkward line breaks/paragraph breaks, text blocks that don’t line up, horrible (hyperlinked) chapter headings… surely there’s a balance between functionality and aesthetics.
Consider Philebas - Iain M. Banks, 2008 (eBook)
Published by Little, Brown Book Group
The Reality Disfunction - Peter F. Hamilton (eBook)
Published by PanMacmillan
A friend of mine recently commented that he finds that the design and typesetting in eBooks generally terrible, and showed me these to prove his point. Consider Phlebas inexplicably has a different coloured text panel to the rest of the page, and there are some lines where the text justification has far too much space between words (I’m looking at you, lines 9 and 18). The Reality Disfunction has similar typesetting issues- look at lines 13 and 14 of the recto page, and you will see that the sentence has been broken up. Where is the proofing in e-formats?
The Dress Circle - Lucy Hammonds, Douglas Lloyd Jenkins and Claire Regnault, 2010
Published by Godwit (Random House)
Designed by Fiona Lascelles
This book has a beautiful, elegant design- and you need look no further than the contents page to see it. The contents page gives evidence to the consistent and balanced design that is featured throughout this book.
A History of Gardening in New Zealand - Bee Dawson, 2010
Published by Godwit (Random House)
While the choices of typeface in this book are nothing to write home about, the use of a folio and running header (sider?) in the outside margins lends itself well to the overall tone and functionality of the book.
Maori Art: The Photography of Brian Brake, 2011
Published by Raupo (Penguin)
Great title page. A simpler version of the cover text, on a colour that matches the front inside cover fold.
