Book design culture and art style

Abstract: Faced with the rapid popularity of computer-aided design technology, more and more book-binding designers have begun to pay attention to design concepts, cultural connotations, artistic positions and humanistic concerns. This marks the return of the spirit of book-bound culture and is a book-based art design. Another leap forward.

Keywords: computer-aided design book binding culture concept art style

Since the 1990s, the rapid popularization of computer-aided design technology in China has brought tremendous changes to the design of book binding. Its magic, convenience, speed, and high quality output have excited designers.

This change is mainly reflected in: Computer technology provides designers with infinitely broad design space, and an unprecedented handy design tool. The computer technology changed the original design finished product ink draft into a “film” that can be directly delivered for printing. The visual and color display combined the design and the plate making, saving manpower and material resources and shortening the publishing cycle.

At the same time, computer abuse has also appeared in book design. Designers are often faced with a myriad of novelty effects that can be obtained with numerous clicks. It is often difficult to choose between them, intentionally or unintentionally listing a variety of design features. Therefore, the design of binding has entered a misunderstanding: Due to the neglect of the overall sense of design, the meaning and value of the book design should be reflected in the book itself.

In addition, the magic of the computer also provides convenience for those lazy designers, making the book design a full-scale computer product without personality. The cover of the computer with heavy, fancy and piled-up paperwork was full of bookshops. These book designs lost their due cultural attributes and lacked cultural connotations.

Faced with this phenomenon, designers have a reflection on the framing culture: the multiple design of computers is not equal to the creativity itself; the advanced scientific and technological means are out of the active thinking of the people and do not bring about ideal results; the proliferation of computer symbols Greatly weakened the book's bookishness and cultural connotation. This is undoubtedly another challenge to the designers. It requires designers to be more intellectual, more savvy, have higher cultural qualities, artistic positions and creative talents.

In recent years, more and more designers have begun to focus on book design concepts, cultural connotations, artistic tastes and humanistic care when they use computers. A large number of outstanding works have emerged. This marks the return of the spirit of the book binding culture in China and is another leap forward in the art design of book binding in China. This leap mainly has the following features.

First, it emphasizes a simple and concise artistic style.

The simple and concise artistic style of framing design is determined by the cultural nature of the book itself. Before the 1990s, Chinese publications were basically still in the stage of letterpress printing. Due to technological backwardness and economic constraints, the general design color was limited to three to four colors. However, the design masters of that era were skilled in the composition of the limited color, and they were composed of simple and elegant designs. The simple coloring also showed a rich visual effect, elegant and generous. As the times change, their artistic value remains the same. The "Nine Leaves Collection" published in 1981 is a collection of nine poets in the era of the beginning of the Chinese New Culture Movement. The designer, Mr. Cao Xinzhi, used nine trees in a big tree to describe the nine poets. The composition of the book is steady, the leaves are scattered, and the colors are simple and elegant. The connotation of the book is expressed implicitly and poetically to the readers, embodying the skill of a generation of masters.

If we say that the simplicity and conciseness of the installation of that era was somewhat constrained by conditions and somewhat passive factors, then the simplicity and conciseness of modern designers is entirely subjective. They "do not use computers to see computers." Decorative languages ​​are subordinated to design languages. They are simple and complex, and they are as precious as gold. They try to convey the most visual information in the least possible design language. "Molecule virology" was designed by Wang Mei, the young beauty editor of Hubei Science and Technology Publishing House. She uses the virus structure and genomic images under the microscope, highly abstracted into a monochrome pattern, and organically combined with the title into a whole. The book is monochromatic, and large-area blanks successfully embody the modern design concept of “blankness and segmentation” (see Figure 2). This design won a gold medal in the 2001 Hubei Book Framed Appraisal.

The title of the book is eye-catching, and the simple and quick installation, the importance of the plane and the color composition, and the design of visual impact, have become the pursuit of many design designers. This is the need of the times, and it is also a reflection of modern book design concepts.

It is true that each era has aesthetic ideals, aesthetic interests and aesthetic spirits of each era, and the beauty and formal rules of binding are also changing with the progress of the times. However, the simple and concise artistic style is never out of date. Goethe said: "Conciseness and genius are twin sisters." Indeed, simplicity requires designers to have high aesthetic skills and visual language expression. The concise and accurate design language is equivalent to the “amazing language” in literature and is the highest level of binding design concepts.

Second, pay attention to cultural connotation, artistic position, humanistic care

Excellent book design is based on accurate communication of the content spirit. It is the external embodiment of the book's soul. It is not enough to rely on a computer alone. It is necessary to inject the designer's design concept of continuous sublimation according to different book genres, themes, and styles. Paying attention to cultural connotation, paying attention to the position of the artist, and pursuing individuality characteristics have been valued by more and more designers of framing, and the cover of the surface is spurned by people. The study and reference of foreign design art design is no longer limited to surface plagiarism. Instead, it integrates the intense color, exhilarating visual impact, and unrestrained enthusiasm in the form of foreign binding into Chinese national characteristics. In the form of binding, a batch of books designed to reflect the cultural characteristics of the Chinese nation and truly have a Chinese style.

The creative design of Clinical Orthopedics is wonderful. The symbolism has replaced the straightforwardness of most medical anatomy. The herringbone stand has multiple meanings: The broken trunk is repaired by the connection and support of the metal parts; the best is the emergence of tender green shoots on the trunk, highlighting the value of bone science for life. The whole idea is full of rationality and full of humane concerns. Composition is very rigorous, color concise, black and white gray rhythm clearly. Text arrangement, size, density, and so on. This design won the National Gold Prize for the Fifth Book Framed Appraisal.

The sublimation of this concept of framing design is a new advancement in Chinese framing art. It not only strengthens the book designers' profound understanding of the aesthetics of binding, but also effectively promotes the overall in-depth study of book design practices. It also has a major impact on people's thinking, imagination, life interests and values.

Third, enhance the overall design concept

Past book designers only passively care about the cover design. Today, they care about the entire book and the entire book. From the choice of paper, materials to the size of the open, printing technology, from the cover, cover to the title page, layout design, etc., the overall design of all aspects, each link is carefully designed by the designer. Book binding design has become a three-dimensional, multi-sided, multi-level, multi-factor system engineering. The position of the designer is also quietly moving from passive to active, from local to whole. This is a profound change from the concept of design to the design system. It is the need of the times and the necessity of history. The overall design of "The Material Culture of Yunnan" has won the honor of "the most beautiful book" in the northwest southwest region. Its beauty lies in the use of graphs and words. It is in the right balance and moderation, and it is reflected in its overall style; it is fine and not fibroid, thick and unblemished, and its color is pure and transparent, which enables readers to enjoy its profound knowledge. The poetic implication of aesthetic taste. Whether it is the envelope, hard cover or ring lining page, it is a good example of the book's cultural connotations.

The overall design puts forward higher requirements for book designers. It requires the designer to have a good design talent and a global grasp.

These characteristics indicate that China's framing design art has reached a new height and is a welcome development trend for Chinese framing art design.

([Author: Luc Hubei Fine Arts Publishing House)