Looking at the 15 pages you’ve done in your books so far
Reviewing and talking about new Indesign/type knowledge
Talking about book anatomy
Working!
See how much of your book you can get in, roughly if necessary.
Decide where you’ll cut off your text.
Read about Type Families, Numbers, Font Formats, Alignment, and more!
The site practicaltypography.com can be a great reference for a lot of the practical things we talk about in class. We’ve talked about all these topics, but refer back to these if you forget:
last but not least, Hyphens and Dashes
What goes where in a book? This helps explain that.
A colophon is a short piece of text (sometimes including a printer’s mark) usually at the end of a book that details which typefaces were used, printing techniques, papers used, binding methods, etc. The book’s designer’s name often goes in the colophon. In general, it gives information on the design and production of a book.
You can use it to note your design details and credit yourself in your book. Look for them in other books!
Looking at book comps
Talking about making proofs
Talking about these Indesign skills:
Working
Create a 15 page proof of your book
Design a book that:
• Invites and guides readers • Avoids hindering reading
• Is aesthetically appealing • Reveals the structure of the text and design.
As you begin, make sure these basic choices are working together to make your text readable: Typeface, font size, page size, margins, leading, line length, letterspacing.
We did that largely during our comps phase, but we may revisit some of these if we find that they’re not working.
As we make the first proofs of your book, we will:
Looking at your mockups
Talking about low-resolution mockups
Talking about comps for the Book project
Talking Indesign
Working on book comps
Finish your 3 sets of book comps
Create comps for 3 of your sketches/mockups.
For Each Comp
Looking at your Type Specimens
Talking about making books
Examining books and making mockups of books
Make 8 paper mockups for your books. These mockups should be full sized paper versions of a spread for your book. They should have margins drawn/specified, page numbers, running headers, and anything else your page will need.
We’re going to talk about margins while making books. A lot.
And you may want to re-read Let’s Talk About Margins
In this project, we’re designing and producing books! We’ll design the interior and the cover. We’re get more Indesign skills and experience, maybe more Illustrator, more big picture type, more detailed type, more making skills, more everything! But also less, because less is also important.
We’re going to start designing the book as a container for the text. What you’re designing with your book (at first) is the system for holding that text. And that system should resonate with the content of your book.
Download Book, Pt. 1 Handout—Now with correct schedule!
Read more →