Designing chapters in a book
aitchmal0ne (226 pencils) | Wed, 2011-03-30 00:04I'm designing a 250 page textbook for a college. So far (only on chapter 6) all of the chapters only take up one page. Normally in a book, all chapters begin on the right facing page, but if I keep it at this style, every left page will be blank. Any thoughts? Should I begin the pages on the left facing pages as well, or keep it the traditional style? Is there a rule?
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::heather malone
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you should talk to your textbook writer. i can't imagine why a textbook would be broken down into chapters so small that they're all one page. that's just terrible organization.
@aitchmal0ne For such a publication you might consider a different grid, specifically one that would put less emphasis on formal chapter opening pages. If the chapter text is very short for the page format, for instance a letter-size page as either portrait or landscape, a multi-column layout would provide flexibility for you as a designer and for the reader—a chapter that partially runs over onto another page would not appear dramatically different from a chapter that fills only half or three quarters of a page. Determine the smallest and largest amount of text in your chapters so that you can consistently place at the same location on the page the beginning of each chapter. Place the continued text consistently but not at the same location as the beginning. Creative use of white space would be key to a successful design. Introducing a graphic element throughout would add interest and tie the cover to the interior. There's a cover, right?