Below is an example of type design
specifications. Text design and text composition are two
different functions by definition. Think of it in this sense:
an interior designer doesn’t necessarily install flooring
or paint walls, and a landscape designer doesn’t
necessarily put down mulch, or plant trees. Nor does a type
designer necessarily compose text or import graphic images into
a page layout program.
The text designer must have an
understanding of the components of a book, demonstrated below
by that highlighted in yellow. The designer may need to read to
analyze and dissect a book. But typically one who has already
studied the text--the editor being the most qualified--will
define for the designer the elements of the book, that in
yellow below. The designer then creates the specifications for
the composition artist, that highlighted in green. The
composition artist creates the pages in a page layout program.
