Plate III shows three covers having the Unity, Principality, Order
and Balance which characterize pleasing appearance.
The first, unusually free in its handling, is a cover by Mr. James
Hall. The second, a little more formal, is by Mr. F. W. Goudy, of
New York, one of the best of typographic designers. The third, most
formal of all, was composed from type and “stock ornaments” under the
direction of Mr. A. A. Stewart, principal of the North End School of
Printing, Boston.
[Illustration: (Demonstration of Greek ratio)]
But the arrangement of pages shown in Plate III, practically the same
in all, is not the only possible arrangement. Plate IV gives nine
others. All these illustrate, in one way or another, the application
of the most important single law we have for the determining of
proportions, namely, the law of the Greek ratio. Briefly stated, it
is this: A line or measure is pleasingly subdivided when one part
is more than a half and less than two-thirds the length of the
other. It is illustrated herewith. In Plate IV this ratio controls
the measures of all the principal subdivisions, comparable lines and
margins.
[Illustration: PLATE IV.
Nine examples of a lay-out for a cover, from the simplest to the most
elaborate children should be allowed to attempt.]
When the type mass is small, as in 1, the outer rectangle needs to
be reinforced, if only by a line parallel to the edge. The same is
true when the type masses are freely balanced, as in 6. When a single
area is broken up into two or more parts, the parts should be bound
together by a circumscribing line, as in 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9. With two
evidently independent areas such a line is not required. In 5 the
attraction of the large undivided blank area at the lower right is
sufficient to balance the small, cut-up area at the upper left.
In subdividing areas regular sequence in position of the various
measures should be avoided, for it initiates a movement of the eye in
one direction, following the sequence, and disturbs the balance of
the whole.
In designing the cover, the scheme finally determined upon should
be such as seems best, considering the number of elements to be
incorporated. For the Longfellow booklet I decided to use a rather
broad Celtic border, therefore none of the nine plans given in Plate
IV will do. I must revert to the plan which underlies the covers in
Plate III.
_Lettering_--The selection of an appropriate style of letter is
but a preliminary. The drawing of the individual letters in proper
relation to each other and to the whole is the chief task, and not
an easy one. It is well first to draw on a slip of paper the exact
area to be filled with the lettering, and to subdivide it by means of
light horizontal lines to indicate the number of lines of lettering
required, the spaces between the lines, and the approximate height
of each line of letters. Upon this slip trial sketches should be
made, in pencil, first roughly sketched, then brought into shape
and refined. In good lettering the whole makes its appeal as a mass
first. This breaks up into lines, the lines into words, and last of
all the words into individual letters. The letters should not attract
attention to themselves first, either by their erratic character or
by their spacing. Plate V shows the evolution of a line of lettering.
Sketched roughly with a single pencil line the first time it fell
short. The second time it overran. “The third time never fails.” (It
does, sometimes, in lettering!) When the spacing seems about right
in single strokes, try it again in pencil, with the double strokes
to indicate the thickness of the different parts of the letters, and
to perfect the spacing. The letters should _look_ equably spaced.
There is no mechanical rule for such spacing. Only intelligent
practice makes perfect. When the line is satisfactorily drawn in
pencil on the slip of paper the line is ready to be transferred, by
tracing or by copying, to the cover of the booklet, and drawn in ink
or water color.
[Illustration: PLATE V.