Format for Graphic Designers

Gavin Ambrose, Paul Harris

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781474290630
• eBook ISBN: 9781350031821
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Graphic Design

From traditional print to digital formats for mobile phones and tablets, this book provides a clear introduction to the creative use of format in graphic design. Using 200 inspirational examples from contemporary international designers, Format for Graphic Designers guides the student through the role of format in both the purpose and the narrative of a design. The authors look at the physical aspects of formats - traditional and experimental, print and digital - to explore innovative solutions and, through case studies, explore how and why professional designers choose particular formats for a job. Covering everything from books and magazines, point-of-purchase displays, packaging, direct mail, brochures, and screen-based formats, the new edition illuminates this critical element of design practice for students, and provides them with a solid foundation on which to build their own designs.

‘Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication.’

Marshall McLuhan

Chapter 3

Printed media

Some of the most important parts of history have been marked by the production of printed matter. From the Magna Carta through to the political propaganda posters of the twentieth century, printed matter is of unrivalled importance and stature.

Alongside these works of national and international importance, our cultural make-up is also constructed by the printed ephemera that surrounds us. Some printed items are intended to be kept as a record, as a cultural marker in time. There is also a plethora of printed items that are transitory and temporary in nature.

This section looks at the many outputs of printed media, from the book through to brochures and posters. The choice of format here is varied and often unconventional – with designers challenging the norms and conventions of any given media.

Standard sizes

Confusingly, design has evolved to run several different systems of standardisation, as described in the tables below and on the following spread.

In essence, book publishing formats are loosely based around standard paper sizes (imperial) that are folded and trimmed. Folio refers to pages that have been folded only once, quarto editions are formed by folding the paper twice and octavo is folded three times. Running concurrent with this, stationery and posters are based generally on either the ISO paper sizes (metric) or the US paper sizes, as shown on the following spread.

Name	Metric (mm)	Imperial (in)
Demy	229 x 152	9 x 6
Royal	235 x 191	9 ¼ x 7 ½
Crown Royal	280 x 210	11 x 8 ¼
Classic hardback or C format paperback	222 x 143	8 ¾ x 5 ⅝
‘Trade’ paperback or B format	198 x 129	8 x 5 ¼
Imperial folio	390 x 550	15 ½ x 22
Royal folio	320 x 500	12 ½ x 20
Imperial quarto	280 x 300	11 x 15
Crown folio	250 x 300	10 x 15
Royal quarto	250 x 320	10 x 12 ½
Medium quarto	240 x 300	9 ½ x 12
Demy quarto	220 x 290	8 ¾ x 11 ¼
Foolscap folio	210 x 340	8 ½ x 13 ½
Imperial octavo	190 x 280	7 ½ x11
Crown quarto	190 x 250	7 ½ x 10
Foolscap quarto	170 x 210	6 3/4 x 8 ½
Royal octavo	150 x 250	6 ¼ x 10
Medium octavo	150 x 240	6 x 9 ½
Demy octavo (demy 8vo)	143 x 222	5 ⅝ x 8 ¾
Large crown octavo	129 x 198	5 ¼ x 8
Crown octavo	127 x 190	5 x 7 ½
Foolscap octavo	108 x 171.5	4 ¼ x 6 ¾
‘A’ format ‘Pulp fiction’	111 x 175	4 ¼ x 6 ⅞

Shown here is an annual report, designed by Thirteen, for Bristol Regeneration Partnership. The design comprises an A5-format book stitched into its own mailable self-sealing greyboard envelope. Being perforated, the top and bottom flaps can be removed upon receipt, so that the object sheds its postal skin and functions purely as a book.

ISO and US paper sizes

The ISO paper size A standard is a system that allows easy enlarging or reducing from one size to the next. Each size is half of the size of the previous one, when folded parallel to the shorter lengths. The ratio of the length to the width is the square root of 2.

In contrast, the ANSI system (American National Standards Institute) has paper sizes based around the Letter (8.5 in x 11 in) format. Unlike the ISO standard sizes which have the single aspect ratio, ANSI standard sizes have two aspect ratios 1:1.2941 and 1:1.5455. This means that enlarging and reducing between sizes leaves irregular gaps and margins. The ANSI system is used in North America, Canada and parts of Mexico. The ISO system is generally adopted in other parts of the wor...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Purpose and narrative
• Context
• Printed media
• Folding
• Binding
• Print and finish
• Glossary
• Index
• Acknowledgements
• Picture credits
• eCopyright