How to bind books

Book binding contains three major parts: cover design, including front cover, back cover, spine design, hardcover books and jacket design; layout design, including the title page, ring liner, font, openings, binding methods; illustration, including the title, end flower and illustration creation.

I, cover design

If the book binding as if a group of buildings, then the book cover is undoubtedly the appearance of these buildings. Whether it is a western gothic church, or a classical Chinese palace temple, the appearance of the building can reflect the spirit of the building. And so does the cover, which will focus on the spirit of the book's theme, and it is a key point in the design of the book binding.

The formal elements of the cover also includes two categories of text and graphics, cover design also need to highlight the main image. But from the conception to the performance of all pay attention to a kind of writing beauty. Performance in the text-based and graphics-based design, are so.

1. Text

The concise text on the cover is mainly the book title (including series name, subtitle), author's name and publisher's name, which stay on the cover of the text information in the design of a pivotal role.

In the process of design, in order to enrich the picture, the title of the book can be repeated, plus the pinyin or the name of the foreign book, or the catalog and the right amount of advertisement words. Sometimes, for the sake of the picture, the author's name and publisher's name can be left out of the cover, so that they appear on the spine and title page, leaving only the indispensable title of the book on the cover. The explanatory text (publication intention, the table of contents of the series, the author's profile) the responsible editor, the name of the binding designer, the book number pricing, etc., is arranged according to the needs of the design of the lehr, the back cover and the inner pages. Vibrant font is not according to the book's style, style, characteristics, the arrangement of fonts like advertising design composition, as described in the design of the points, lines, surfaces to design, organically integrated into the structure of the picture, participate in a variety of combinations and divisions, resulting in interesting and innovative form, so that people feel that the words have no end and no end of meaning.

2. Graphics

Graphics on the cover, including photography, illustration and pattern, there are realistic, abstract, there are also written. Specific realistic approach applied in the children's knowledge books, popular books and some literary, scientific and technological books in the cover design more. Because children and teenagers and low literacy readers are easier to understand the concrete image. And scientific and technological reading materials and some construction, living supplies and so on a picture book cover using figurative pictures, it has a scientific, accurate and touching illustration.

Some science and technology, politics, education and other aspects of the book cover design, sometimes it is difficult to use specific images to refine the performance, you can use the abstract form of expression, so that readers can understand the meaning of it, get the spirit of feeling.

In the cover of literature, a lot of use of the "writing" technique, not just like the figurative and abstract form of the original content of the "writing". Rather, it is a form that is like an image but not an image to express. In Chinese painting, there is the technique of writing meaning, which focuses on capturing the expression of form and spirit, and obtaining a rhythmic mood and touching associations with a concise technique. Some people refer to the method of changing natural patterns as "pictorial change". On the basis of concise natural forms, imagination is brought into play to pursue the expression of formal beauty. Exaggeration, change and combination. And the use of writing techniques as the image of the cover, will make the performance of the cover more symbolic meaning and artistic interest. For example, the close-up of the word "less" on the cover of Junior Literature and Art is like a fluttering red scarf, which gives people a kind of association and reflects the personality of Junior Literature and Art from the conception to the form. The deformed cover of children's books can arouse children's interest, and they can find their friends in fairy tales, myths and fables. Those Chinese and foreign ancient and modern patterns with a sense of writing also play a great role in reflecting the national style and the characteristics of the times.

3. The cover as a whole

The cover is not really just about the front, which is, admittedly, the main thing people care about. But for aesthetic reasons, the reverse side should not be ignored, and the spine of a book plays an equally important role in advertising and aesthetics on the bookshelf. Therefore, the front, back and spine of the cover should be included in the scope of cover design. The whole cover is a small whole of the book binding in the big whole, front and back and the spine of the interrelationship has a unified conception and performance, the success or failure of this relationship, also affects the overall effect of the book binding design.

We can summarize several types:

A. Front and back design is identical. Or the general design is the same, but the text has changed, the front side of the appearance of the book title, the reverse side of the use of pinyin, foreign languages, or a very small responsible editors, binding designers name. There are changes in color and design on the front and back.

B. A complete design divided into front cover, back cover and spine, each decorated with text.

C. The back cover is a reduced image of the front cover, or a small logo or design that echoes the front.

D. The spine should be the embodiment of the cover design, especially in thick books, and should not be satisfied with the arrangement of the title, author's name and publisher's name. Through the same font with the front title, in a narrow area, arrange the size, sparseness relationship, some use of geometric points, lines, surfaces and graphics to divide and echo with the front and back, and with the formation of rhythmic changes.

E. The design of the spine of the book can stand alone, you can use the text on the design of the cross. In the hardcover books, there is often a protective cover, can play a protective role, but also an important means of publicity, is a kind of small advertising. Protective cover design paper, printing wonderful, expressive. Protective cover can be more concise, to achieve the effect of change, but also because of the cover using linen, lacquer, leather and other binding materials and printing process constraints, so the use of concise performance style. The protective cover of the Lekou also need to be carefully designed to become part of the cover as a whole, and can be used to publish its executive summary, author introduction, publication information, series of directories and so on. Protective cover is divided into full protective cover and half protective cover, half protective cover only half of the height of the cover, wrapped in the waist of the cover, so it is called the belt, used to publish book advertisements and some of the book about the supplementary items, but also plays a decorative role.

Two, layout design

The so-called layout design, that is, in a certain news publication format, to determine the layout of the elements of the reasonable layout, that is, to determine the size of the center of the page and its space on the page occupied by the location of the text, text format, font size, text spacing, the position of the pictures and tables and layout form, the use of decorations, etc., so that the layout of the news publication has a sense of aesthetics and the use of the news. The layout of the publication has a sense of beauty and a unique style.

The title page is provided in front of the table of contents or foreword of the book. The title page includes a spread, a blank page, a portrait page, a volume insert or a series title, a title page (the book's frontispiece), a copyright page, a dedication inscription or a thank-you, a blank page, and so on. Too much of the title page appears to be a clamor, so its number can not be mechanically specified, must be based on the characteristics of the book and the need for framing. At present, domestic and foreign books, often more concise, more than the use of page protector, positive title page and directly straight into the catalog or preface, while the arrangement of the copyright page according to the specific circumstances and positive.

Positive title page printed with the title of the book, the author's name, the publisher's name and concise pattern. Due to people's reading habits. The positive title page is always oriented in the same direction as the cover. When we open the cover, turn over the ring liner and blank pages; the text appears in the center or upper right of the right plate center. In addition to this there is also the use of the left and right sides as a positive title page of the setup juice, known as the two title page. The typeface on the title page should not be too large, mainly using fine art type to keep in line with the typeface of the cover. The design of the title page is very concise and leaves a lot of space, as if there is a space to relax before entering the main text.

Whether you open the front or back cover, there is always a page that connects the front cover to the inside, called the ring liner, which is designed to keep the cover and the inside secure. Hardcover book ring lining design is also very elaborate, the use of abstract texture effects, illustrations, patterns, but also with the performance of photographs, the style of its content and the book binding as a whole to maintain consistency. But the color should be changed relative to the cover. Generally need to be lighter, the contrast of the graphics is relatively weak, some can use the quadrilateral continuous pattern decoration, to produce a unifying effect, visually produce a transition from the cover to the inside.

The purpose of layout design is on the one hand, in order to make the form of the best expression of the content of the page, on the other hand, in order to establish the style of the page. Generally speaking, the layout style should vary from one news publication to another. But the overall style of the same news publication should be consistent.

How to use the means of layout design to achieve the design of the layout of the style objectives? It is generally believed that there are several ways:

1. From the font, font size to reflect. If there is a layout without boldface to maintain the elegant style, there are a large number of layout using new fonts to reflect its novelty, lively style;

2. from the body line spacing line width to reflect. If there is a layout to increase the spacing to make the layout bright and pleasing to the eye, some layout line width is very long to make the layout solemn and elegant;

3. From the picture, the form of the table to reflect. Pictures of the form of size, shape, number of how many and the location of the arrangement can bring different characteristics of the layout;

4. From the layout decoration to reflect. Layout decoration mainly refers to lace, floral lines, flowers, net bottom, frame and other decorative symbols. How to arrange the layout of decorative symbols is also an important means of reflecting the layout style;

5. From the layout space to reflect. Some of the layout of the blank more, to reflect the bright and clear style; some layout of the blank less, to accommodate more information.

It should be said that the layout design work is a strong creative work. Layout designers should at least have the following qualities:

1. should understand the various aspects of the news publishing work, know the entire editing and layout process;

2. have a strong knowledge of news theory and business, there is a sensitive "news nose", that is, to "know the goods! ", know that the news is the most important, can basically judge the size of the news value and publicity value of the manuscript;

3. Should be familiar with some of the printing knowledge and master the knowledge of typesetting and plate making. As far as modern newspaper layout designers are concerned, they should master the laser phototypesetting technology;

4. They should be familiar with the types of fonts, font sizes, and decorative symbols in the laser phototypesetting system of the company and be able to skillfully apply them;

5. They should understand the requirements of various types of plate-making methods for the original manuscripts;

6. They should have a certain amount of knowledge of art;

7. In addition, they should study the composition of the layout, the layout and the layout of the paper. The composition of the layout, the structural pattern of the layout, the style of the layout, the reading adaptability of the layout and the beautification of the layout, etc., so that the layout design will give people a sense of beauty and be conducive to reading.

Three, illustration

Illustration is a kind of painting, but different from the general independent appreciation of painting, it has a relative independence and has the necessary subordinate. Illustration must have a certain painting conditions, do not rely on the text. Can also be from its image itself. Expression of a certain theme, but also must obey the original, to become an auxiliary, which is the meaning of illustration.

Illustrations can be divided into two categories. One is literary illustration. By choosing meaningful characters, scenes and episodes in the book, the artist expresses them in pictorial images, which can increase the readers' interest in reading the book, combine readability and visibility - deepen the understanding of the original, and at the same time, get different degrees of beauty and enjoyment. Another category is science and technology and historical books. This kind of illustrations to help readers further understand the content of knowledge to achieve the role of the text is difficult to express. Its figurative language should strive to be accurate, practical and illustrative. A photograph of an apple helps us to see the shape, color, structure and texture in a very objective way. The illustration of a seed not only reproduces its shape and structure, but also shows the process of germination in the soil.

Literary illustrations can be said to be typical of literary illustrations. Including the title, endpiece, single-page illustrations and inter-text illustrations. Its performance in a variety of forms: ink painting, drawing, oil painting, drawing, printmaking (woodcut, lithography, copperplate, silkscreen), gouache, watercolor, caricature and so on. There are realistic. There are also decorative. The first step in the creation of illustrations lies in the understanding of the original. Not only to understand the specific content and requirements, to understand the spirit of the original theme, but also through in-depth reading of the original, to figure out the original is Chinese literature, or foreign literature? Is it classical literature or children's literature? It is a novel, prose, poetry, or fairy tale, fable, or children's literature. Or fairy tales, fables, jokes? The original style is rough and bold, delicate and rigorous, or enthusiastic and lively, simple and deep? The historical times, characters, costumes and props, daily customs, and the built environment depicted in the original. And to deepen the understanding through visual image materials, because literature is the art of language, and fine art is the art of vision, without the life experience described in literature, it is difficult to reflect the literary content on the screen. It is difficult to reflect the literary content in the picture without the life experience depicted in the literature. As well as a variety of cultural relics to analyze the information, will be linked to a variety of feelings, to be comprehensive study, to find out the law, based on this, according to the original requirements to determine the tone of the work, throughout all the paintings. So that the image of the book, the image of the data, coupled with their own imagination, do have a bottom in mind, in order to express the depth of the concept, but not to the concept, but also a kind of personal accumulation of methods of continuous improvement, for the creation of a good foundation for the future With this step, it is necessary to refine the original, to find the plot of the content of the drama can be sung. The length of the original literature is very long, and the illustration is not a comic-book type of picture-based, a book is arranged only a few illustrations, which requires us to seize the theme of the plot of a paragraph of text through an illustration, and show the most typical meaning of the text, and the plot suitable for the performance of the painting. This kind of illustration is not to stay in the text to recognize the map, but after re-creation, so that it has the infectious force of artistic personality. At the same time should be in-depth and specific, delineate the subtle, so that readers can get both artistic enjoyment. And can feel the concrete image of life. Chen Laolian's "Peeping Jane" a picture, choose to take the camp driving to hide at one end of the screen to read the letter, from the depths of the joy, the red lady secretly from the other end of the screen to see, her finger pointing at the lips, light is the demeanor of the spirit of the spirit of the young girl, living out the image of intelligent and lively. The picture is extremely simple, with a wonderful screen showing the environment of the boudoir, and the paintings of flowers and birds on it, whether they are butterflies flying in the air or birds whispering in private, are all skillfully expressing the good wishes of Yingying. It's a very vivid illustration of the truth.

Just because an illustration has to express many textual contents, some illustrations adopt the method of incorporating different times and places into one painting; realistic illustrations use the technique of montage; decorative illustrations are not restricted by objective conditions such as perspective and proportion, and are more often organized according to the intention of the picture, which is the method adopted by traditional Chinese paintings and folk paintings.

The form of illustration is rich in expression, also according to the two categories of realistic and decorative, each country has its own style of illustration, even if the same country, the same type of literary works, but also because of the illustrator's artistic cultivation, understanding of the original work is different, using a different perspective, different content, different picture form to express. As an illustrator, when facing books with different contents and subjects, he should study and think carefully to find the appropriate ways to express them, instead of treating them in the same way. Huang Yongyu's illustration "Asima" not only concentrates and truly expresses the joy and happiness, labor and valor, difficulties and encounters of the main character, but also has a thorough craftsmanship in the expression of the poem's rhythm, mood and style. The whole set of illustrations is rich in rhythmic composition, smooth lines, simple and elegant colors, and richly varied knives and decorative flavors. However, his illustrations for Selected Fairy Tales of Ye Shengtao and Feng Xuefeng's Fables adopted different methods of expression according to the different styles of the original works. In the illustrations of Selected Fairy Tales of Ye Shengtao, out of the painter's understanding of fairy tales and the familiarity of children's appreciation requirements, he gave more play to artistic exaggeration and imagination to satisfy children's interest in novelty, intensity, childishness and anthropomorphism. A full of personified animals vividly appeared in front of the eyes of young readers.

The illustrations in a book will not be just one, so there is a whole relationship between the illustrations and the illustrations. As the opening title of the article, the closing epilogue and the illustrations in the middle of the text, to deal with the relationship with the word and space. The whole set of illustrations in the conception of an overall design arrangement, cover, ring liner, title page to the epilogue on the illustrations, as well as decorative motifs, to be carried through in the theme of the book, and in the book binding this group of "building" to achieve harmony and perfection, so that readers can get the full enjoyment of the spirit of the process of touring.