Total Design

"As already stressed on several occasions, whatever design principle is followed, all the parts of a book should rest equally on a unified plan, so that the same elements are treated in the same way, from the first to the last page. This is not just an aesthetic demand, but is also important for an understanding of the text. Headings and sunheadings, the space under a chapter heading, line spaces; these are signs, and are there to communicate. For the designer the binding-case or cover belongs to the book. He or she will bring them into an overall plan, just as the jacket will also be made a consistent part of a proper book. Colours belong to total design too: something that cannot be shown here. The tone of the text paper, the colours of the endpapers, binding material, head- and tailbands and ribbon bookmarker, and the colour(s) of the jacket: all contribute decisively to the overall impression."

From Designing Books: Practice and Theory by Jost Hochuli and Robin Kinross, published by Hyphen Press