2003-12-02

The Image of the City- book design


The book design of The Image of the City is absolutely wonderful. A few things I
like:

1
The book is slightly larger than a regular cheap paperback, but small than
trade. So it sits open comfortably because the pages are heavy, but still sits
easily in the hand, taking only a small amount of pressure to hold back the next
page (which means turning the page has to be a deliberate action, but only so
much to encourage an action that wants to happen anyway; it's not bound too
loose or too tight).

2
The margins are huge: at the bottom they're big enough to hold the book and not
obstruct the text; on the outside edges they're almost as large (also room to
hold the book). The effect is your eye is kept on the page, you never fall over
the edge. It feels more immersive.

3
The text is smaller because of the large margins, but it still feels really
bright. The typeface is really light on the page with an irregularity of the
stroke that makes it almost spidery, but bonds the words together. The word
spacing is larger, and the sentence spacing much larger than usual but it works
really well -- even though paragraph indenting is small, the text is so light on
the page that large runs are still exceptionally easy to read. It's a pleasure
to do so.

4
Margins are used for figures, chapter headings, and (most wonderfully) tiny
images that don't interrupt the flow of the text. These illustrations can sit
right where they're needed and be read along with the text; you don't need to
jump out to refer to them.

5
Photographs and illustrations carry the same level of high-contrast but overall
light on the page. Lines are thin.The paper is white, and heavy enough such that
there's no shadow from the obverse of the page.

6
The cover is a beautiful strong blue, black and white. The author's name is
followed by a colon, and the book title is in elegant caps, right-aligned. The
impact is muted by putting the words on the blue background. It follows the
experience of the book itself.


The book as a whole feels elegant, self assured but not declarative or
over-confident, quiet. It flows, it's measured, graceful. Reading feels natural,
both in the passage of the eye and the book in the hand.