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Page Design

Page design developed as an essential asset within book production for the purpose of storing and passing on information's and to expand education.

Page design and layout

Page design depends on adopted style that we choose for layout and its content. The most important elements in page layout is the use of space with harmony, rhythm and variety of images and text. We also need to apply principals of design which are the unity, balance, colour and texture.

The page layout has to be interesting, informative and flexible as further it might need to be coordinated in to other accompanying published material which would usually reflects the time in which it was published.

Quote

'Effective web design is about organizing and classifying content so that it can be easily found and read, listened to or viewed.'

Source By Gerry McGovern, Information architecture versus graphic design, 2001

The same page design or layout might be applied to web pages barring in mind that the web is time sensitive and visually constrained environment, which means that the viewer don't like to be kept waiting if a web page contains large amount of graphics or images.

To be able to coordinate the printed page layout with on screen web layout, one must be sure that the graphics and files are optimized to the computer screen size, resolution and are a quick to download.

Frontispiece or Front Cover Design

Quote

'Frontispiece - An illustration that faces or immediately precedes the title page of a book, or section of any publication.....'

Source artlex.com

Frontispiece description was used for Front Covers in hand written books also known as Codex or manuscripts. Over time various descriptions has been used within book and magazine publishing as:

	Applied Cover
	Boards
	Book Jackets
	Chemises
	Cover to Cover
	Dust Jucket
	Front Cover
	Frontispiece
	Recto
	Title page

At first we had illustrated Front Covers with emphasis on our skills, and very good example is the World's earliest printed book from China 'Dimond Sutra' dating back to 868 A.D. The illustrated, grand cover and book text can be viewed at the British Library on line Collection [BL]

Quote

'If a picture speaks a thousand words the dust jacket is an essential marketing tool.'

Source Cover Story by Chaneel 4 .... more

Through later periods the emphasis were made on illustration and decoration as new materials and colouring media become available and Front Cover designs usually reflect the style of that period in time

Most popular expressions used today are 'Dust Jacket' in book publishing and 'Front Cover' in magazine publishing

As we are all individuals and see things differently the front cover or book jacket is the first page we see in the shop on the bookshelves or on the Internet, so it has to be informative, interesting and sometimes just different to evoke any kind of reaction.

The Front Cover gives the reader a short introduction or indication about the publication contents and that is why the Front Cover or Book Jacket today is considered to be the most important (from design and marketing point of view) in publishing and print

To view examples of book jackets see V&A on line display of the exhibition titled '70 Years of Penguin Design', from 2005. The first Penguin book was published in 1935, history view .... more

Quote

"The designer must be at all times a mediator, an interpreter: through his imagination, his experience and his knowledge of the art, craft, and science of printing he converts the typescript into a book and expresses the author's words clearly and sympathetically to the reader ...... his integration into the text of the illustrations, their print on pleasing paper, the book's insertion into a strong binding within an irresistible jacket, are needed to fuse the whole book into the harmony that seems easy and irresistible."

Source By John Trevitt .... more

Links about page layout and design

Graphic Design through History .... more

History of book publishing .... more

Page Design articles from about.com .... more

Rule of Thirds in page layout .... more

The graphics of shape .... more

Design on Line Jurnals/Magazines from 1965-1974 .... more

Links to articles on Book and Cover designs

When it's acceptable to judge a book by its cover by The Guardian .... more

Cover Story by Chanel 4 .... more

All Graphic Design Resources - Cover Designs .... moe

Penguin Publication by Designers .... more

Example of magazines covers 1960-1994 .... more

V&A Prints & Books Collection .... more

Book Design .... more

GD Links

This site is created and maintained by mpgraphics based on research to assist students in education on history of gaphic design. First published on the 26th March 2001, with Yahoo - Geocities. Until January 2009 mpgraphics had approximately 46.097 visitors

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