- Once I've designed my grid on the master page,
I now have a master grid and format for my book.
The grid is applied to every page in the document.
Now it's time to add the content and see if it works.
Books have very specific requirements for content.
I know it may sound stuffy, but these
exist to help the reader.
The content at the beginning of
the book is called front matter.
This includes the half title, title page,
library of congress CIP data, contents, forward,
and introduction; in that order.
This content is laid out using the grid as a guide.
I work with consistent type sizes and try
to determine one primary hang line for my content.
Next, the text pages.
This is the main body of the book.
These may include chapter pages, foot notes,
images, and captions.
I place the content within the grid based on
consistent usage, such as all text is two columns wide
and all captions are one column wide.
Images can be placed within the column structure.
Use the entire text area or bleed off all four sides,
depending on the content.
Make a rule such as all images
are the same width and their height varies.
Typically, images will be different proportions
and will not all fit in the same area exactly.
If I have captions, I determine whether they
will always be placed next to, below,
or separate from the image.
Any of these is acceptable as long as
it's consistent throughout the entire book.
The tricky part of book design is creating
a consistent system that helps the reader know
where and how to find information.
Since all the content will not be identical,
the grid needs enough flexibility to organize
the information without pushing you into a corner.
Again, if something just won't work,
one page has information or content that can't fit
within the structure, rather than cheating,
modify the grid, add a column or hang line,
give yourself more options and flexibility.