The Book Designer

Practical advice to help build better books

Book Design: Chapter Openers and Part Openers

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I have to confess that my favorite part of book design is creating the chapter opening pages. Ideally the display typography and any other pictorial or decorative elements you use on the chapter opening pages will reflect the type used in the rest of the book, including the title page. In indie books we have […]

Author Series Book Templates: Relive The Glory

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Do you have literary heroes? Most writers do. I was thinking about some of my own literary heroes recently, and the books that had made such a big impresssion on me—and millions of other readers. That’s when I realized that I had a unique way to pay these authors and their books a kind of […]

The Elements of Bad Typography

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Editor’s Note: As more examples of “bad typography” appear, I’ll continue to update this article. And hey, you can send me your own examples for inclusion, too. (See the end of the article. Last edit on June 15, 2017.) Typography of one sort or another is all around us. And that’s why bad typography is […]

Designing for Hand Printing a Broadside in the Bookman Typeface

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Sometimes when I think back on all the time I’ve spent in graphic arts and related endeavors, I have to admit it’s been quite a ride. Of course, working all through the disruption caused by the gradual digitization of design skills and typography has given me a prime seat from which to view the disruption […]

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"Writers change the world one reader at a time. But you can't change the world with a book that's still on your hard drive or in a box under your bed. This blog exists to help you get that book into people's hands."
—Joel Friedlander

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