OUGD504 - Studio Brief 01 - Book Size

The publication I am designing has to be easily portable and encourage being handled as it is a cross between a typographic trail, like a field guide but also celebrates the vibrant area of the Devonshire Quarter in Sheffield.  

Jan Tchisholds states in 'The form of the book', that 'Books have to be handy. Books wider than the ratio 3:4 (quarto), especially square ones, are ugly and impractical; the most important good proportions for books were and are 2:3, Golden Section and 3:4. The inner book, or book block, of books that are too wide - square books in particular - will drop at the face. It is not easy to shelve or otherwise store books that are wider than 25 cm; 97/8 in.' I partially agree with Tchishold in his statement, as personally I dislike reading books that are too pig and awkward to handle. In bookshops I am naturally drawn to the smaller ones which I can easily pick up and flick through, rather than the big clunky ones on the shelves. This is the kind of feel I want to encapsulate when people see my book. I don't want them to be afraid to handle it and read through. 

In the village book store I found the books 'badly repaired cars', 'bubblegum' and similar books the nicest size to read at 141 x 179 mm. They're light, easy to flick through and encourage being handled and read. 

This size would also fit comfortably into your bag, lending itself to being carried around and used to explore with. 

This is the size book I'm going to go for with my publication.