Book Design Principles (1)

Abstract: From the five aspects of tradition and modernity, holistic and local, art and technology, abstraction and figuration, content and form, a number of typical designs are used to rationally describe the principles of book design.

Keywords: book binding design

The progress of the era has prompted people to have a higher level of aesthetic appreciation of book art, and book design faces a new challenge. How to create a design that can both inspire people and give people an elegant and artistic enjoyment is the basic idea of ​​modern book art. Through the analysis and comparison of book design principles, it is necessary to study the basic principles of book design art.

Tradition and modernity

China's traditional books are vertical right-of-the-line copies. It was developed from China's earliest book-changing policy, embodying the elegant connotation of Chinese books and the upright temperament of the Chinese nation. China's traditional book design pays more attention to the texture and color of the material. It pays more attention to the inscription of the cover and the production process of the book, and pays attention to being tall, simple, and elegant. There is no trapping, no complicated graphics, and no frills. The cover shows only the beauty of the texture expressed by the material itself and the artistic charm of calligraphy. The aesthetic psychology of book design with the goal of pursuing elegance constitutes a beautiful form of Chinese traditional books, which has a great influence on later generations. The expression of Ya in book art is the design language of ancient literati. The demand for elegance is also deeply imprinted in the minds of modern book designers.

In today's high-tech development, unprecedented changes have taken place in China's printing and publishing industry. In particular, the emergence of computer-aided design has provided a variety of expressions to the creativity of book designers, and it also provides a broad scope for the development of book art. world. Today's book design should be a manifestation of the combination of China, the cultural essence of the nation, and modern aesthetic concepts. It is neither "ancient" nor "foreign". It is based on the essence of traditional culture. It draws on the techniques of representation that represent the modern trend. It constantly improves and develops to form a style that can both reflect the spirit of the Chinese nation and meet the aesthetic needs of modern people. style.

"World Sinology" is an academic research journal that introduces sinologists from around the world. Its cover uses the format of ancient books, traditional texts, and Times of Songs. The title of the book is selected in the form of a figure, and it appears in the middle, making it appear stable and generous. Paper uses a special paper with a strong sense of texture. The color is basically controlled to a single color, making it as pure and concise as possible. The inner side of the cover is strongly red, and the white pattern is used to create a complementary visual effect between yin and yang. This design emphasizes the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture, but also has a modern atmosphere.

It can thus be seen that the key to creating a modern Chinese book design is the combination of traditional expression techniques and modern design techniques, so that the two can be organically and harmoniously integrated, rather than being put together. This fusion is more embodied in temperament, spirit, style, and is a combination of materials, techniques, and ethnic culture.

Overall and local

The thinking and determination of the overall design changed the notion of book cover design in traditional concepts. This change broadened the connotation of book design, and viewed book design from content to form, from imagery to image, and from binding to sales. A complete idea.

The book design is a comprehensive system engineering, which mainly includes external design letter covers, cover seals, and cover designs that promote and protect books; the interior design of book cores includes ring linings, title pages, texts, illustrations, copyright pages, etc. Design; the design of the book's overall form and material design, hardcover, paperback, paper, printing, binding, etc.; design books, boxes, advertisements, handbags, brochures, and various books for the transportation and sale of books. Design of small mobile ads. In order to harmonize the overall style of the book, the various parts should be coordinated with each other, considered in an integrated manner, and become a complete unitary body. At the same time, each part occupies its proper position. The "Best Book of America" ​​awards committee in Europe believes: "The most beautiful books must have appropriate typefaces, as well as beautiful layouts including title pages and appendixes. Each part of the book must be designed properly and meet aesthetic requirements. As a whole, it includes elements such as paper, seals, covers, linings, and printing. It becomes a unity of harmony and is convenient to use.” This shows that an excellent book design must follow the overall concept.

"The book design of four people" was edited and designed by four book designers, Lu Jingren, Ning Chengchun, Zhu Hong, and Wu Yong. The ratio of one to two is the first to give people a refreshing feeling. The black special glossy paper stamps the four names of the black glossy ink and makes people find a quiet place in the busy and bustling world. When you open a book, the atmosphere of the culture is fascinating. The recurrence of the four-person logo is an information element that runs through the entire book. Each page is decorated with a wide, black stripe. It grows longer and gives people a sense of time. The special color paper with extremely high color saturation that appears once every 24 pages shows the unique charm of this book design. Four people's design works are integrated into the dialogue of four people on book design, and printed with 25 kinds of specialty paper. Emphasizes the combination of book form and function. The layout, color, paper, and printing of each page of the book are all coordinated in the style of the entire design.

The overall design is called "the whole" and must be devoted to each stage and part of the book. The harmony and unity of the book's content are its principles. The design of each part depends on the creativity of the same style, and it must have an aesthetic continuity. This is a continuation of the subject of the book. It is often expressed as a number of coherent, intuitionistic, intuitive objects. Whether it is figurative or abstract, it is infinite. The imagination is integrated into one, and this design will have the overall harmonious beauty.

Art and Technology

As a practical art, book design has a very clear task of shaping the image of the book. Once the concept is mature, it must be put into practice. Unlike art, it must rely on technology to express itself. The rapid development of science and technology has infiltrated into the book design field today. Whether it is design thinking, creative methods, or various materials and printing processes, it is required to reflect its technicality. The development and use of various graphic design and book layout software has enriched the design techniques, shortened the design production time, and brought a vast space for the design of books. It is also a qualitative leap in the art of books.

An excellent book design must firstly reflect the depth of its conception. This is an intrinsic beauty, reflecting the designer's artistic accomplishment, and then must have the corresponding technology to express the idea. This kind of external beauty is also at the same time. Can also convey the designer's artistic accomplishment. Technology is a means of expression. Book design must rely on technology to achieve beauty creation. If you do not have a profound understanding, even if you have higher technology, you will not be able to produce excellent book designs. Similarly, there is no certain degree of technology, that is, there is no better idea or expression. The idea that gave birth to the embryos of the book art; technology, gave birth to the art of books.

In recent years, in order to ensure the quality and quality of key books, some publishers have used high-tech to fight fine-quality warfare. Sometimes a beautifully crafted book is no less than an excellent work of art. "Yixing teapot rewards" is Yixing teapot atlas, letter sets and hard seal with textured texture of the same color different fabrics installed into. The design of the letter box concisely concaves the names of the two lines of the seal book. The central part of the hard seal has a special square groove. A special Yixing pot embossed with purple clay is installed in it, which is unusually delicate and unique. Feel the connotation in the book. This bold vision for differences shows the progress of printing technology. Of course, this is not to say that the more expensive the paper is, the higher the printing quality will be, and the better the effect will be, and there are also many examples of using cheap materials to achieve the desired artistic effect. For example, in addition to the cover and ring lining of the "Lv Sheng Zhongxian", the inside pages were printed with newsprint, the slightly yellowed paper, and the layout of the traditional line-bound book, which inadvertently conveyed the deep meaning expressed by the artist's line drawing with folk flavor. . The material and work styles are in harmony, and the inexpensive materials have become an irreplaceable and unique artistic language in this book, bringing readers to a realm of simple beauty.