How to properly design a book spine?

August 15, 2023

If you look at a bookshelf, your world will never be the same. This is because the spines of some books are designed from bottom to top, while others are designed from top to bottom.

What’s the point? Which is correct? I’ll tell you now.

Two traditions

First, you need to understand: there are two typographic traditions: Russian and European. It is typical for European to design the spine starting from the top, so you can read it by tilting your head to the right.

In the Russian tradition, the name is written from bottom to top, so you can read it by tilting your head to the left.

It’s more readable. Moreover: without tilting our heads, but looking straight at the bookshelf, we are more likely to read the spine that is designed in the Russian tradition.

- It turns out that it’s correct - the way we did it, and we need to continue the same way?

Not really.

How to do it right?

In my opinion, before adhering to any traditions, you need to answer the following questions: “What am I designing? How will my designs live after me?”.

Through my experience I have come to the following rule:

• If the book is for the shelf, then the Russian spine. We write the title from bottom to top, maintaining readability in the vertical position of the publication.
• If the book is for the table, then it has a European spine. When the book is on the table, we can easily read its title.

Lately this has been considered incorrect, but otherwise we get a coffee table book with an inverted title on the spine. Then, no matter which way you turn your head, it’s difficult to read the name.

Before you follow any rules and traditions, you should think about: “What and why am I doing?”. You can be as principled and traditional as you like, but still make a stillborn and weak design.

The author of this article does not call for breaking the rules, but calls for thinking: what rules and when to follow.