Editing by Design

An Industry Classic, Revised for the Modern Age

This classic guide to winning readers for designers, art directors, and editors, has been completely updated to be applicable to both online and print publication design. Because it has truths about effective visual communication that transcend ever-changing technology, this book has been in continuous publication since 1974. Revised with the careful attention of widely respected author and professor of graphic design Alex W. White, Editing by Design, Fourth Edition, describes how both word people and design people have the same task: to reveal the true core of each message as plainly and compellingly as possible. It is a book vital to creators of today’s online and print media.

Readers will find ways to marry content and form, helping story and design to reinforce each other, and create pages that are irresistible. Brimming with three hundred illustrations, chapters cover a wealth of design and editing matters, including:

• How to think about “editing” and “design” as a word person and a design person
• Teamwork and collaboration for story clarity
• Originality and inducement for the reader
• Columns and grids for organization and consistency
• Covers and content listings as tools for deeper reader involvement
• How to use type hierarchy to catch and lure readers
• Representational and non-representational imagery
• Using color as a branding device

Readers will learn how editor-designer collaboration can achieve maximum creative impact through the effective use of words, images, and space. Full of practical examples, this book is equally for designers looking for a deeper understanding of how to design better and for writers and editors wanting to communicate more vividly with the utmost impact, as well as for editorial directors and publishers seeking a competitive advantage.

Jan V. White was former art director of magazines at Time Inc. An award-winning graphic designer, he was a communication design consultant to dozens of publication companies and hundreds of publications in his 55-year career. Author of fifteen books on the techniques of publishing and more than 250 articles published worldwide, White gave nearly two thousand seminars for both designers and editors in 27 countries. His point was always that publication design is a rational activity that uses type, image, and space to achieve real communication; further, designers must have a keen interest in words, and editors must understand the importance of design in revealing their stories. White held degrees in architecture from Cornell and Columbia Universities. He lived in Westport, Connecticut, and died in 2014.

Alex W. White is an award-winning design consultant, author, and educator. As a career-long adherent to the design philosophy described in this book, he is the most appropriate person to carry this book into its fourth edition. Among his books are The Elements of Graphic Design, Listening to Type, and Advertising Design and Typography. White is the chairman of the graduate program in Design Management at the University of Bridgeport. He has taught at Parsons School of Design, FIT, and the Hartford Art School. He served as president and chairman of the Type Directors Club in New York City. White holds degrees in graphic and advertising design from Syracuse and Kent State Universities. He lives in Greenwich, Connecticut. alexanderwwhite.com