On Book Design

by Richard Hendel and Lúcio Manfredi

Book Overview

How is a book designed? What do book designers think about as they turn manuscripts into printed books? In this unique and appealing volume, the award-winning book designer Richard Hendel and eight... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300075707
• ISBN13: 9780300075700
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.5" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

On Book Design for real!

I found this book to be one of the best on this topic. The text written by others is also helpful as well but not as much as the author's book. Lots of good advice. For example read the work that you are designing, if not the whole thing then a good chunk of it. Also to consider are the words that the author of the book you are designing, namely big words, small words. Also things to consider about typeface that comes from the same period as the text may or may not help. All good tidbits that are not mentioned in other books. I bought many books on book design before I finally found this book.

It's About the Process

I've read a number of great books about the mechanics and about the details one must consider when designing books. But Richard Hendel's On Designing Books is the first I've read that explores the process of designing books. It goes so far as to present eight book designers who discuss what they eventually go through in designing books. Involved in the craft some fifteen years myself, I found Mr. Hendel's presentation, and the angles of his eight, interesting, informative, and helpful. There are times when, as a designer, I'm stuck for some push in a direction so as to get started. And as a page comp and layout artist on others' book designs, I'm sometimes left questioning how and why someone else's book design was conceived the way it was. On Book Design goes a long way toward providing some possible paths to answering those questions.

The best book on book design!

This is the best book I have read on the subject. The interviews with a variety of designers show there is no one way to approach a book design but the goal is always the same-to honor the author's voice.

Excellent

Thoughtful and thorough, and offering no easy answers, this book forces one to think for herself. On a par with Hochuli's 'Design of Books'.

A new classic -- a great find.

This is a new breed of book design; but it is bred out of classicism. Being involved in an antiquarian artform during the dawn of computer technology poses many problems. One of them is the disappearance of really well designed books. So, in an attempt to preserve The Book's integrity, I searched for new guidance on this ancient art. This book ended my search. Rather than quibble with new design trends, resist new technology, or morosely revisit bygone eras, Hendel see these as "points of departure" and sticks to the real issue -- the design of books. The result is not a strict set of rules for book design, rather, it is a fluid and applicable philosophy of design for the many types of books we find today. "The challenge," says Hendel, "isn't to create something different or pretty or clever but to discover how best to serve the author's words." This book is informative, enlightening and filled with lovely samples from distinguished designers. A very beautiful book. Writers will enjoy learning how designers make well-thought creative decisions about the spaces that words flow into.