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Podcast: Download (Duration: 34:30 — 7.9MB)
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In this fascinating interview, book designer Steve Tiano talks about his work in physical book layout and his tips for self-published authors who do layout themselves.
[Click here for tips on how to find and work with a book cover designer.]
Steve is a book designer, page compositor and layout artist and you can find examples of his work at Tiano Design.
In this podcast you will discover:
- What does a book designer actually do? Is he just “an intermediary between the author and the reader”? Or is he an artist in print?
- How different genres of books require different layouts
- What is needed about the book to understand what formatting to use
- What is page proportion and how does it affect the readers experience? Ideas include musical scales and the Golden Mean.
- What books does Steve recommend for understanding book design?
- How templates are used within publishing to keep books in a consistent format
- How self-published authors are becoming more ‘vogue' so more book design is needed for them as well as the existing publishers work
- What is the difference between serif and sans-serif fonts?
- Which typefaces does Steve recommend for self-publishers?
- All about Fontin super family typeface – more information here
- What software can be used for book design: In Design and Quark Express
- Tips for people doing their own layout
- Is page layout the same for ebooks as for print books? (and why Steve still loves printed books!)
- Why the book cover is meant to “invite the reader over” and not dominate
- How Steve uses his blog and Twitter to find work even though he is a self-confessed old-school lover of the printed word!
You can find Steve at his main website and blog Tiano Design.
I’m working on my own design, but if I ever go to press — and that’s far off in the future if it ever happens — I’m going to get a professional to look over my design and typesetting before the printer gets the book.