Introduction
1 Historical Context
Numbers and proportion/ The Golden Section/ The Van de Graaf canon/
Villard de Honnecourt’s Diagram /Fibonacci Numbers/ Preferred
Numbers/ Corbusier/The Vocabulary of Layout Design
Representation and Reality/ Layout today
2 Basic Principles and ‘rules’
Relative and Absolute Measurements/ Dynamic rectangles/ Proportion/
Book Sizes/ Special numbers/
Number sequences
3 Grids and Formations
The Grid/ Columns/ Anatomy of a grid/ Fields or Modules/ The
Baseline Grid/ Gutter/ Picture boxes/
Runaround and wraps/ Complex or compound grids/ Multi-column Grids/
Orientation/ Angles/ Broadside/ Emphasis/ Hierarchy
4 Objects on a page
How we read a page/ Balance/ Juxtaposition/ Typography/ Alignment/
Leading and fonts/ Hyphenation and justification/ Folios/
Marginalia/ Pace/ Layers/ Measure/ White Space/ Dots/ Lines/
Texture and typographic colour/ Passepartout
5 Case Studies
Michael Worthington (US)/ Bruce Mau Associates (US) /Bob Aufuldish
(US)/ Fabio Ongarato (Australia)/
Mucho (Spain)/ A2/SW/HK (UK)/ Hagen Verleger (Germany)
6 Exercises
The Van De Graaf Canon/ Poster Design/ An Exercise in Editorial
Complexity/Action Layout/ Flatland/ Visual Storytelling and
Narrative Form/6x6 Collaborative Letterpress Project
Glossary
Index
A comprehensive visual guide to laying text, image and object out on a screen or page.
Gavin Ambrose currently teaches at the University of
Brighton, UK.
Paul Harris is a freelance writer and editor.
The Layout Book introduces the key principles of layout design
through a clear, accessible and instructional format. The
fundamental principles of layout design are illustrated through a
combination of contemporary and seminal references, which engages
the reader and practically demonstrates the theories.
*Simon Harrison, Leeds College of Art, UK*
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