What I Know About Columns, Part II

January 25th, 2010

Because one column of text works so well, we should consider two columns, no?

Maybe. But not so fast.

An ideal two-column setup is two columns of 17 to 19 picas, with a gutter of about 18 to 24 points between them. Such a layout works particularly well with books that contain stretches of text punctuated by display items such as equations, scientific formulas, art and such. The arrangement can also work for a coffee table book filled with photos—with way wide margins all the way around and art bleeding off the pages. But more than this must be considered. White space is again critical.

Whatever the size of the page, if the rule for one-column layouts calls for generous leading, for two-column it becomes even more important. I’ll tell you why …

Narrow columns have a way of making the type on the page appear denser and the whole page look dark. The color of a page can make or break the reading experience. So dense, dark pages are verboten—unless you just want to take a shot at breaking that rule to use a dark page as an image in its own right. (But I warn against making a habit of such play.)

Narrow columns pose some problems. Justified lines, for instance, can result in wide word-spacing or, worse, letter-spacing. One way around this is to run the text in each column ragged right. Another option is smaller letterforms. Smaller can mean smaller point size, as well as letterforms that are condensed or having smaller x-height. But, again, this can raise the issue of a page with dark, dense color.

Two-column text presents the chance not merely to be a typesetter so much as a typographer. Every size matters: page, margin, gutter, type, individual characters, and leading.

Next time: the three-column page

Entry Filed under: book design