Book design is formed by the book’s content, layout, style, and of course, its design. Design enhances the reading experience and better assists in the dissemination of the book‘s information. At the same time, good book design can also bring direct sales and revenue.
Before the design process begins, the target audience needs to be identified as well as a commercial budget to ensure that the design plan is appropriate and feasible. Design style can be considered based on the audience’s needs. For example, a children’s storybook requires less dense typesetting, vibrant colours and appropriate illustrations, but a serious literature book does not require as many decorative elements.
In terms of content design, the content, layout and use of images should be chosen based on the book’s theme and audience needs. A deep understanding of this can give more ideas on how to make a book more unique and valuable. How the content is arranged is also important as this often enters the reader’s sight directly and affects the reading experience. A grid system can be used to assist in content layout, unify structure, highlight key points, and make the content more clear on the view. In terms of style design, fonts and colours support the reading experience together with typesetting. We need to consider font selection, font size for titles and body text, leading and kerning etc. Colour selection also needs to be unified and in line with the theme. For example, science fiction books often use black as the main colour to highlight mystery. In format design, cover, size, printing, material, binding method all need to be carefully considered. The design purpose of each element should be researched and gradually integrated based on the reader.. A book does not have to be limited to flat pages: it can be 3D, hollowed out, or varied in structures. We can improve our creative ideas based on existing designs, but also break these rules to form a new and more interesting way of design.
Book design is a complex process that requires careful consideration of every step and detail. The target audience needs to be identified and our unique creativity should be used to develop a better reading experience.
To learn more about the book design, join our virtual event on the 27th of April!
Written by Luan.