BEYOND BOOKS: In-Depth of Its Illustrious Design

Creating a book is not only about writing something that might be fictional or not but also creating its layout to look more organized and presentable in order to catch reader’s interest. Rex Group of Companies, as one of the most successful and popular company producing books especially for the youth, the quality of their products is very important. It might sound like an easy task but creating layouts requires a lot of procedures.

Before putting some layout, they will have this so called Book Conference wherein the author along with the artists who’s in charge of the drawings and layout will all discuss about the contents of the book. Through this meeting the other contributors of the book will be aware on what outcomes the writer wants his work to be and will give them an idea on how they will do the design. After introducing the expected concept of the final output, they will come out with a sample book design which includes everything that was propounded during the conference and if the design was approved, they will use it, for the whole series if it is a series. If you are familiar with the software being used, it will be easier for you to show what you have in your mind since you are knowledgeable about the tools available. Every designer have their own unique way on how to put styles for the book but there is a tip for making the design look more pleasing to the eyes, it should be balance or equal. Since the designers or those who are in charge of doing the layouts are informed about the contents of book, they also know that creating different styles is quite a must especially if there’s this case where the unit, chapter and lesson titles are given for the first part then will be modified for the next part. Also, they form two (2) or three (3) designs where the authors can choose from. Same as creating book covers, though it is a more complex one for it needs to pass through the marketing department for approval. Designers also cater what’s available to work to except for law books since they don’t necessarily require designs, just full of well-organized texts and styles will do.

          Rex Bookstore also uses two (2) or four (4) colors in a book just like for 3^rd grader’s book, blue was being used; hence, it is cheaper when being retailed in the market. Unlike for the two colors, four colored books are way more expensive and commonly works layout artists do. As for the person whom we have interviewed, known as Mrs. Weng from the layout department, she prefers working on books for elementary up to secondary because she could play with the illustrations but it requires time and effort unlike for tertiary which focuses more on the texts. Observing color combinations is also important most importantly because Rex Group of Companies focuses on contributing and providing information to others especially to young people, they need to attract attentions of the youth and by simply applying proper combinations of colors, readers may not be bothered. On this part, the duty of the layout department is accomplished for the next phase is to deliver it to the author.

Every one of us was once attracted to colorful books, been interested in reading it because of its attractive layouts, and relished it. The process of creating it may not be as simple as we think it is, but being able to create one for others is a best feeling every writer as well as the artists could feel. Just like what Mrs. Weng said, “Kaya minsan ang buhay talaga ng books nasa layout”, we should never underestimate the power of a layout for it is helpful in order to make the texts as well as the whole product look more alluring.


- Melanie Claire Panganiban