The three-dimensional beauty of book design

Abstract: The book is flat and three-dimensional. The three-dimensional shape of the book is like a person's figure, with weight, touch, strong characteristics and intuitive. We can use our eyes to understand and touch the three-dimensional beauty of the book with both hands. The three-dimensional beauty of the book includes the opening of the book, the material, the sides of the book, and the spatial sense of the book.

Keywords: book design three-dimensional space hierarchy

The book is flat and three-dimensional. The framing design of modern books has broken through the plane to three-dimensional. Some exotic books with unique shapes and novel materials have appeared around our lives and have blown a fresh and fashionable style in the field of binding. The three-dimensional shape of the book is like a person's figure, with weight, touch, strong characteristics and intuitive. We can use our eyes to understand and touch the three-dimensional beauty of the book with both hands.

First, copy


The book is also a language. As the most external form, the copybook is like a book that conveys the first sentence to the reader. Properly designed designs can give people a good first impression, but also reflect the book's practical purpose and artistic personality. For example, the small format expresses the designer's sympathy for the reader's pocket book bag space. The large format adds a bit of elegance and style to the reader's Tibetans and gifts; the narrow-cut book looks pretty, the wide-open version gives a sense of depth, and standardization. The open book appears to be stable. One of the major attractions of the Tokyo Metro is that many Japanese people are reading books. The most widely read is the pocket book, which the Japanese call a "library book." Each book is only 10 cm x 15 cm. Men's pockets and women's handbags can be packed with more than enough space. The benefits of a pocket book are not only portable in size, but there is a greater advantage that it is cheaper and more people can afford it. Small and convenient, great style. In addition to size, there are also shape distinctions. Ordinary books are rectangles or squares, and oddly shaped books such as triangles or circles are also very personal. In the booklet on ceramic art, the shape of the book pages adopts an irregular oval shape that reflects the roundness of the ceramics; the shape of each page is different, which exactly conveys the uncertainty in the ceramic production process, the content and form of the book. The combination is perfect. Relying on an alternative look to attract the eye, it looks like it is a complete book that is cut diagonally. It always makes people want to find the other half of it. This type of book is occasional and creative, but it must not be abused.

Second, the material


One of the distinguishing features of modern bookbinding is its materialization. The material used for bookbinding is not only paper, but also plastic, metal, wood, fabric, and leather. The texture, color and texture of various materials can show different personalities and characteristics.


I saw a related news, saying that recently a company launched a series of "bath books for plastic books." If these books are wet with water, they will not tear and the pages will not stick. This is a very good idea, plastic properties and bathroom books meet the requirements. In fact, there are many examples of selecting materials from the perspective of function. For example, cloth books used by infants and young children are all hand-made from various colored cloths. The inner page drawings are cloth paintings with three-dimensional effects, and the figures are vivid and vivid. Infants and young children like to tear pages, but they don't require much information, but they have strict security requirements. The book made of cloth is tear-resistant, soft and safe, and the visual effect is good. It is also convenient for the baby to read it. The material selection of book binding can also proceed from the contents of the book. For instance, the Water Margin, the letter box of Water Margin made of wood used the shackles form of ancient prisoners, printed the title of the book and the name of the author into a seal style, and subtly hinted some story content of the story. The form and content are very appropriate. Wooden box can also be a good collection of books. Good use of materials can convey the meaning of books to people silently. Different materials can produce different visual effects and tactile sensations: the softness, warmth and femininity of the fur; the firmness, coldness and strong sense of the times of the metal; the plain, warm and nostalgic fabric; the wood's neutrality, simplicity, and calmness. A good understanding of the materials used in materials can often add to our design. Feng Xiaocai's "Grey Space" book, the designer is very simple, no illustrations, only the title of the lower left corner and the author's signature, but the book gives people a feeling is very heavy and upscale. The key is on the texture of the art paper used on the cover, feeling empty but not thin. Imagine a large blank space, if used on ordinary copperplate paper, the effect will be greatly reduced.

Third, spine and book mouth


The book is a hexahedron with the largest display area on the back cover of the cover. It is the focus of framing design. The area of ​​other faces is relatively small, but also on the side, and it is often easily overlooked. But from the perspective of the integrity of the book's three-dimensional form, the side is an indispensable component. In the limited display space of the bookcase, the spine is even more important than the cover. The "Chinese Modern Ceramic Art" series consists of a set of five books. When five letter boxes are put together in order, the spine patterns form a complete ceramic bottle so that one can read the contents of the book and place it in the bookcase. Very beautiful. Part of the ceramic pattern on the ridge of each book forms the identification mark of each volume of the book. This mark also penetrates into the title page, text page, cover page, and copyright page. The design of the spine has slowly begun to be taken into account, but few of the books have been used. "Mei Lanfang Biography" can be said to be a classic booklet design. The book uses special printing technology to make the book mouth curved in different directions, respectively, showing Mei Lanfang's life photos and theater photos, cleverly reflected the Mei Lanfang drama stage and life stage in two parts. Although the book mouth is small, there are a lot of articles to do. I have seen a music book. The outer edges of each page have been deliberately cut into irregular teeth, like torn ones, and there is a sense of oldness. The jagged edges echo with the beaten notes in the book, appearing vivid and harmonious. Thoughtful, personalized spine and booklet design can add luster to the book, and it can display the content of the book no matter how it is placed.

Fourth, sense of space, layering

The three-dimensional difference from the plane is in the sense of space and layering. There are the following methods used to create spatial sense and layering in modern books:

1, digging.

Book Binding Whatever material is used for the cover, the inner pages are usually paper-based. Paper is a flat thing and can only become three-dimensional by cutting through the stack. Clever use of this feature of paper can bring some novel perspectives to the original bland book. It has become a common practice to create a sense of spatial depth by digging holes in the book cover, and now there are some books that also have articles on the inside pages. Figure 8 is a book introducing toys. It looks like an ordinary book. After opening, it has another world. The inside pages are cut through a certain thickness of paper to embed a toy pistol. Here, the book is a toy pistol package, and the toy pistol has enriched the contents of the book. After removing the gun, the gun-shaped hole still makes the book unique, and the sense of space is extremely strong. The same is digging, it is completely different feeling. It opens the window on a single page, revealing the color and graphics of the bottom page when flipping, so that a level is created on a single plane. The Sixth National Book Binding Gold Award work "The Story of the Little Red Man" is also a method adopted. It cuts the red man directly on the red cover. Although it is lined on the same red paper, because of the spatial level, Xiao Hongren still stands out, embodying rich folk culture.


2, superimposed.

By adding something else, the book breaks the sense of flatness and strengthens the three-dimensionality. For example, some books simulate the effect of Qing Dynasty clothing, and use physical buckles to secure letter boxes; some books are bound with exaggerated and prominent metal screws; some books use other materials such as leather or metal on the cover of cardboard. Mosaics, etc., are all superimposed methods that aim to create a three-dimensional effect on a planarized cover. I also saw an example of adding a paper structure that can be folded and flattened on the inner page, closing the page and not seeing anything special. Open the pasted page, because the structure is involved, the inside is pre-glued. The paper pen instantly jumped on the paper. It was surprising and interesting, and people had to admire the designer's innovation.

3, texture.

The texture is a three-dimensional form that can be touched. Because of the plasticity of the framing material, we can often create a certain kind of texture effect in a certain space. Molding or engraving is a common technique for texture. What we see the most is the bumping in the printing process. Hit convex is mainly on the paper, and the metal cover is often molded or etched, etc. "Zhu Xie Listed Thousand Characters", this is Mr. Lu Jingren's design work. The letter sealed the letter with a thousand words on the paulownia wood board, imitation of the wood carving version printed in the Song Dynasty, and then belted together, Ruyi wood buckle, constitute a unique shape of the book.

Regardless of the way in which the three-dimensional form of the book is reflected, the ever-changing nature of “reflecting the connotation of the book” should always be the most important principle of book design. It cannot be designed for the sake of design and new for the sake of newness. As a cultural product, books are ultimately used for reading. Therefore, the form of book binding must obey the content. This is like building a house. No matter how it looks, it must first have the functionality of the house. Book design must be expressive for content. Without the contents of the book, design loses its meaning. Only books with unified contents, forms, aesthetics, and functions are the most beautiful books.

Technical College Dai Xiaoling

Source: Art and Design - Theoretical Issues