Chapter III: Mr. L

Q. Can a trade-edition book be well made and sell for $1.50?

--That depends on how high you set your standard.

--Well, let us not be too rigorous. Can it be made better, say, than this book?

--Beyond question. It will all depend upon whether or not the printer has a few lingering memories of the standards of printing.

--But should not the setting of standards come from the publisher?

--Oh yes, under ideal conditions. Both printer and publisher should have a hand in it.

--How would you make a book of fiction to be sold for $1.50?

--Well, such a book could have a good title-page as cheaply as a bad one--and the whole typographic scheme would cost no more if it were logically done instead of crudely strung together. By logically done I mean with well proportioned, practicable margins and legible headings, etc. The press-work on books is reasonably good but the "layout" or design is entirely neglected. It calls for a little planning, of course, but no more than should be available in any reputable plant. It isn't so much that these books are badly planned as it is that they are not planned at all.

--But most printing firms have a planning department, do they not?

--The planning in most presses is concerned with the handling of material, not with the _designing_ of material. This is no doubt due to the fact that the Taylor System has not yet got around to Aesthetic Efficiency.

--Are not the typographical unions concerned to train their men on these points of design that you mention?

--The unions have only one idea--and it is not concerned with the improvement of printing.

--Are there any trade schools that teach these things? Are not the employers' associations promoting schools to train men in the craft?

--The employers' associations have one idea--a little different from the idea of the unions, perhaps, but not concerned with the improvement of printing. There are trade schools but they teach only the mechanics of the craft.

--Apparently, then, there is no place in this country where one can learn how to design printing?

--You can safely say that there is no such place.