This time, the Washington Post raises my ire.
The New Book World DesignPosted by cradle at January 28, 2007 10:55 PMThe moment I picked up the first newly designed Book World, I knew there was something I did not like about it. It seemed somehow less substantial. There were fewer pages, I assumed. But when I compared a recent edition to an older one, I discovered that, no, there were and still are sixteen pages per issue.
Then it hit me: The leading had increased! There was now more vertical space between each line. The page count hadn't changed, but there were now fewer words per column inch. What was advertised as an improvement in appearance was, in fact, a reduction in content.
If you feel that the new leading is more pleasing aesthetically, please compensate by increasing the page count to retain the same content per issue. I'm quite sensitive about this matter. I grew up reading the Philadelphia Inquirer, and watched as the Sunday book review section shrank by degrees until it reached its current size of one paltry page in the Arts & Entertainment section.
-David Eisner
University Park, MD
very interesting. The leading trend started on the web. I didn't know it influenced print as well. Designers like type to be smaller (11pt as oppose to 12pt) and compensate it with higher leading. Aesthetically speaking, it reads better, but still has the same amount of content. So the Book World is cutting back on content and using design to compensate. Funny!
Posted by: Anonymous at January 29, 2007 3:31 PMsorry, the above comment was me :)
Posted by: Nguyet at January 29, 2007 3:31 PMCongrats on getting your letter published and helping us less observant readers realize we were being hoodwinked!
Posted by: Teju at February 25, 2007 7:47 PM