Designing Books: Practice and Theory

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 144 pages
• Published by: Hyphen Press; New Ed edition April 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0907259235
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0907259237
• Book Dimensions: 10 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 1 pounds

Book Description
Now available in paper, this newly revised and expanded classic in book design argues for a non-dogmatic approach, one open to both traditional and modern, and symmetrical and asymmetrical, solutions. A survey of Jost Hochuli's own work as a book designer featuring pages from a career of over thirty years is shown, along with detailed comments by noted designer and critic Robin Kinross.
"Hochuli has achieved his standing without any fuss, programme or manifesto, by sheer talent and persistence. As a designer, his main concern is to work out individual solutions for individual books. This books is sure to help anyone who is seeking to develop a considered attitude towards the design and production of the book as a codex. The use of the individual's own understanding is at the core of Hochuli's practice and theory." Fernand Baudin, Logos

Card Catalog Description
This book has three parts. In the first two, basic principles in the theory and practice of book design are discussed. The third part then shows how the ideas of the first and second parts have been applied in particular examples. 'Book design as a school of thought' was originally delivered (in German) as a lecture and published as a pamphlet, in 1991. This is its first publication in English. 'Designing books' was published as a separate booklet by Agfa (Wilmington, Mass.) in 1989, in German. Translation into several other languages followed, including an English edition (1990): all long out of print. The version published here has been revised and considerably augmented with new illustrations. The third part, 'Books designed by Jost Hochuli', is completely new. Here Robin Kinross comments on 27 of Hochuli's works. Both authors are internationally known, Kinross more as critic and historian, Hochuli above all as a practitioner. In this book they offer a serious introduction to book design, free of ideological dogma. Short and concise, it contains a rich, painstakingly selected fund of illustrations. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
My first reaction, on seeing the black sanserif cover lettering and simple red graphics was "Oh. Swiss school." Some of the diatribes from the early Swiss school proponents came across as 'full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing,' so that left me leery. Hochuli has moved past the dogmatic phase, though, and into something better-reasoned. The paper is a warm, humanist tan (where I expected a stark white), the body copy is a serif font, and Hochuli lets esthetic judgement moderate geometric purism. It may seem surprising that setting up a scientific text jolted him out of the "scientific" Bauhaus mindset. After thinking about it for a moment, perhaps only a science text could have done the job. More than any other genre, science books tend to mix illustrations and photos, graphs, charts, equations and in-line math, footnotes, references and cross-references, and all the other factors that complicate typography. Even more, because the science content of the book can be so complex, it calls out for typographic help in organizing the material for visual presentation. The book is a lovely object. The wide margins give the text a statuesque look. References on each page are set off clearly and legibly. Unfortunately, the text is quite short - only about half the length of the book, and half of that is illustrations. The second half of the book is a brief catalog of Hochuli's work. The material is worthwhile, but it seemed like filler, meant to bring the book up to some mandated minimum length. I also found it a bit too large to read one-handed, the way I do with most papaerbacks. Hochuli seems to have broken his own rule about the size of a book, the way it is read, and the way it is held for reading. The only place I seriously disagreed with Hochuli's advice had to do with bibliographies. I don't think the italic needs a different 'color', as long as the slant and dynamics of line weight are clear. I think he missed out completely on mixing European and Asian names. Western tradition uses "first-name last-name" order for personal name and family name. Many Asians and some Africans put the family name first and personal name last (as if saying "Jones Chris" instead of "Chris Jones"). Typographic convention can preserve proper order and still distinguish family from personal names. Nothing is perfect, but this book is a pleasant and informative discussion of typography in the large - the steps above letterforms and paragraph structure. I'll keep it, and keep coming back to it. Comment | | (Report this)