Book Page layout for dancheong: The art of Korean Temples

For this project, I was asked to create a title page, an introduction to chapter page, and a two-page spread layout as a part of a potential book for my fictional publishing company, Persuasian Press. I chose the topic of dancheong, which is the art that is painted on Korean temples and palaces. I enjoy a good coffee table book and researching my culture whenever I can, so this was a good opportunity to mesh those together. I chose to do the title page and chapter intro in white text on black, because I felt that it made the full bleed image on the opposing (verso) page stand out more. For legibility, the main content is black text on white. I chose Adobe Garamond Pro for the typeface because I liked the line weights and its versatility, as well as elegance.

After studying the canons of page construction, I felt that the first two layouts (title page and chapter intro) came easily. I struggled most with the layout of the main content, because I wasn’t sure if I wanted the text or images to take priority. Although I wanted it to be a coffee table book, I wanted it to be informative as well instead of only pretty pictures. I spent quite a bit of my time looking for high-quality images that complemented my content, and I hope that shows. I learned a lot of important InDesign skills for this project that I will continue to use and practice in future projects.