Design Principles - What is a Book - Dictionary Research

Design Principles

What is a book? 
Dictionary Research 

Following on from the my idea critique where it was suggested that I could produce my publication in the same style as the dictionary I decided to research the layout design to see if I could uncover the history and design decisions behind the layout of the dictionary. Unfortunately this was impossible to find as whenever I included the word dictionary in my search engine the it would literally just define the previous words for example when I searched for 'dictionary layout' all I received were pages defining layout. This was very frustrating as it meant that I could not access any relevant information but felt I would analyse a dictionary insert to uncover the key conventions of the dictionary layout. 

I agree'd with the initial comments made in the critique that the dictionary does have really beautiful typesetting and has so many components that it will highlight my knowledge of typesetting and editorial design. The entries follow a the same order through which consists of;

• bold sans-serif title in slightly larger point than the body copy 
• italic phonetic translation of the work 
• word class 
• definition in legible serif typeface 
• (if multiple definitions are applicable these are numbered)

I will conform to the typesetting of the dictionary as I feel it will make the design of my publication more contextual as it is a contemporary variation of a dictionary so would make sense to follow its format to further accentuate this link. I will however make this relevant to my design disregarding elements that will obsolete within the context of my publication such as word class and there will only be one definition (the definition in relation to graphic design and typesetting) so there will be no need for numerical definitions. I plan to keep my text justified to reference the standard dictionary layout and like the combination of serif and sans-serif typeface although may use more contemporary faces to make the publication more engaging to a target audience of graphic designers however will make this choice based of evaluative feedback from the target audience and referencing the original typefaces.