The creation of books continues to be a vibrant area of design activity. Knowledge of book design can create many opportunities to design all kinds of books, and also improve the quality of one’s typographic work in general. This course includes basic information about book typography, grids and structures, proportions, formats and binding. We review many excellent examples of book designs and their strategies.
During this intensive course, we work on three book design prototypes:
- a typical text-only book, such as fiction or history
- a more complicated book with inherent special design needs, such as a textbook, cookbook, or how-to book
- an illustrated book with drawings or photographs, in which there is a need to make decisions that create a visually coherent and interesting sequence of pages.
With all of these projects, we learn about the relationship of the front and end matter to the text pages (title pages, contents, index, etc.), as well as the use of page numbers, running titles and other decorative material. We focus on pacing and rhythm, the use of white space, the typesetting of extracts, bulleted and numbered lists, and other special situations. We also discuss the relationship of the book’s cover to the design of the interior. This course has been formulated for students at any level of experience (from beginner to advanced) including graphic designers, those working in publishing, and those interested in the book arts.
RISD degree students: This course offers 3 transfer credits with pre-approval from your department head or major advisor using the Prior Approval for Transfer Credit Form. Submit the signed form to the Registrar’s office and then complete the online course registration.
Technology Requirements:
- This class will be taught through our online course management platform (CE Link).
- This course requires access to Adobe Creative Cloud, or some of its creative tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Monthly subscriptions can be purchased from a variety of pricing plans directly from Adobe.
- Please visit our Registration FAQ for additional information and resources.
Course #1793
Douglass Scott
Online Course
June 22–July 31, 2020
Tuition $2,200
3 Credits