Wednesday, November 25, 2015

What is a book ?

What is a book ?
  • A written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers.
  • a bound set of blank sheets for writing in.
For me a book is not a kindle or a app but a physical object that you hold in your hands and turn the pages. A book is a form of communication, documentation and entertainment. The purpose of a book can be many things to teach someone, communicate something and to tell a story that is fact or fiction. A book is a collection of printed pages bound inside a cover and put onto a shelf. The digital age has changed the way we consume books but I want to look more into the real thing, not a kindle or a iPad but a book that you can smell and feel the paper.

Production
The earliest book to be made is dated back to 1300 B.C and was made from bamboo strips bound together with cord. Today things a done a little differently. Books are made from a variety of different types and sizes or paper and the cover of the books can be hard or soft. There are also many types of binding methods hardcover and perfect band are bindings used for more professionally made books were as smaller publications would be made with cheaper methods.
The design of a book all depends on what the purpose of the book is. You need to consider,
  • Page style and shape
  • Typography 
  • Use of colour
  • Layout 
The design of books has been changing even since the days of Johannes Gutenberg. Colour is important in book design because of its connotations, contrast and visual appeal it also has to be readable and work with images and typography. I think it is good to have a colour scheme when it comes to book design and not to complicate the design with to much colour.
A book I like the design of is Calm as the colours layout and typography all fits the theme of calm and are visually appealing to the eye.

















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