iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 4h

Lately, I’ve been thinking about books beyond the books I make for clients. Typography, page design, the small decisions that shape how we read. Some old ideas worth revisiting, some new ones worth exploring. I’ve started putting a few things together. More on that when it takes shape.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I make books. It’s work I love, but that doesn’t make it less a job. I regard book design as art, not just craft. In an epigraph to William Burroughs’s The Job, a six-year-old boy in Tangier, asked about “the job,” replies, “School, of course.” We all have our work, however much we love it.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Projects may begin as exercises. You start out making pages just to see what might be possible. Somewhere along the way, though, magic sometimes happens and an exercise becomes something more. That’s a gift of editorial design: you don’t always know what you’re making until you’re knee-deep in it.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Freelancing teaches you that a project isn't a project until it begins. Conversations, plans, promises, exchanged files, silence. I've learned to distinguish work that's coming from work that might come. A signed agreement and one-third upfront make the difference. Possibilities don't pay bills.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Every book has a decision that looks perfectly reasonable until you try to make it work on the page. Then the page has opinions of its own. After 34 years in book production, I've learned to listen.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Sometimes the best way to learn a new tool is simply to start using it. That's how I got comfortable with InDesign. Before that, QuarkXPress; before that, PageMaker. Around 2000, I took on a book project, dove in headfirst, and learned InDesign on the fly while making the book.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

A typeface doesn't exist in isolation. Change the column width and it can behave very differently. Sometimes the right answer isn't one typeface throughout, but choosing the face that works best for each reading environment. That's using typography to do the job well.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I'm a reader. I read books for pleasure. But I rarely read an entire book I'm designing. I read differently when I'm working: not just what the words say, but what they need to do on the page—and who I'm designing the reading experience for.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Designing books means you never quite stop noticing how other books are made. A typeface catches your eye. A page turn feels awkward. A margin seems generous. You read the words, but part of you always looks at the book. And then there’s the cover, which can engage your critical eye even more.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I sometimes wonder what a book will look like to someone who finds it fifty years from now. Will they notice the things we worried about? Will they see an object of art separate from its content—or simply a book from another time? Musing like this is one of the odd pleasures of making books.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

A book designer works for people they've never met. “Unseen clients,” I call them. The author knows the words; the publisher knows the audience. The designer makes thousands of decisions for people who will eventually read the book. It's part of the job, though it's hard to know how to reach them.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A good book designer spends a surprising amount of time looking at things that most readers will never notice. A line that breaks awkwardly. A heading that's too close to the page edge. A paragraph that just doesn't sit right. Small things. But they add up.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I like opening a chapter to find the work ahead is straightforward. No mysteries. No surprises. Just pages and decisions to make, a book gradually taking shape. Of course, there will be a curveball or two. There always is. And that's what makes for a fun day.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Every so often, wires get crossed. A project moves forward on one version of the material, and then a revised version arrives with enough changes that the sensible thing is to go back and start those chapters again. Not ideal. But that's production work. You fix what needs fixing and keep moving.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

There’s a particular kind of satisfaction in reaching the end of a long work session, looking at the pages on screen, and realizing that several more pieces of the book now exist because you sat there and dealt with them. No grand revelation. Just pages getting made. And tomorrow, more of them.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Starting a freelance business as a book designer is a piece of cake. Building it is the challenge. I was fortunate to have a secure 9-to-5 while I built my portfolio, reputation, and client base. It made the slow times easier to bear—and eventually gave me the freedom to do work I love.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I started my publishing life as a proofreader, so I learned early to read for more than sense and meaning. Rhythm, emphasis, where an author's argument gathers momentum or pauses for breath. A book designer has to read that way, too.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I still like opening a new manuscript and not quite knowing what the book will look like yet. There are clues, of course. The subject. The author's voice. The material itself. But the design isn't there yet. That's part of the fun.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A book's design becomes noticeable when something goes wrong. A line breaks badly. A heading gets stranded. A table becomes difficult to follow. A footnote lands where it shouldn't. Good production work prevents those moments. That's the job of a competent book designer.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

A well-made book doesn't call attention to its production. Otherwise, the book becomes about the designer. Typography supports the subject. Good production disappears when the reader can just read.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Comes a point in book production when the work becomes more observational: less about decisions, more about noticing. Lines break unexpectedly. Footnotes need room. Headings sit better lower or higher. Small things on one page affect pages way down the line. That’s where a lot of the work is.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Early in my design career, I made up work samples to have something to show. A local ad agency liked them and called me about a medical-device brochure, praising my use of “negative space.” I grinned at my reflection: “Negative space!” I knew exactly what they meant. I just didn't know its name.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Some days in freelance book production are carefully planned. Other days involve an oil change, a batch of falafel, a storm on the way, and a chapter waiting on the screen. Somehow the work still gets done. The work is serious. The day doesn't have to be.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Sometimes my problem is as small as getting one footnote callout and the actual footnote onto the same page when four long footnotes are competing for the same space. I'd like to say I can move on for a bit and work on something else. But my nature won't let me move on until I've solved it.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

A book has a beginning, of course. It also has a physical end point. A manuscript is words in a file. A layout is pages on a screen. Eventually it becomes a book with a cover, spine, paper, and a place on a shelf. I still like seeing how they end up.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

One thing I like about freelance work is that a day doesn't have to announce what it's going to be. A chapter takes twice as long as expected. Something else needs attention. Or you get on a roll and keep going. I happen to like not always knowing.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

When I started designing books 34 years ago, choosing typefaces was one of the things I enjoyed most. I bought Adobe Garamond and Futura, then discovered free families like Gentium and Liberation. Many, many more free alternatives now. What a time to be alive and designing books!

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

There’s a satisfaction in sending off a finished chapter, especially when there’s a lot more to go. The feeling of making progress is often better than completing the whole book. Chapter 12 is finished. Tables wrestled, pages rebalanced, footnotes chased, rinse and do again. On to Chapter 13.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Often book-production problems are solved in five minutes. Still, some eat half a day. Yesterday: a three-page table, landscape pages, footnotes, and endless reflow. Frustrating as hell while you're at it. Surprisingly satisfying once you've finally made the damn thing work.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

A book can be a very large undertaking, but you can only make it one chapter at a time. Each chapter is a stop on a journey. Finish the book, and if you’re lucky enough to have another waiting, you get to start traveling again.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Typography has rules. Learn them. Not because every book should obey them, but because you should know what you're doing when you depart from them. Good typography isn't obedience. It's judgment.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Typography has rules. Learn them. Not because every book should obey them, but because you should know what you're doing when you depart from them. Good typography isn't obedience. It's judgment.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Freelancing means you don't have to live by Monday–Friday, 9–5. Today is Saturday. I worked until nearly 5 this morning, slept, and I'll soon be back at the book. Another day, I might take a Tuesday afternoon off for golf. The freedom isn't for everyone. For me, it fits.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The book designer and the layout artist have one job: to bring the author’s words and any pictures to the reader. Everything else is secondary. It may be useful or simply decorative, but sometimes it can get in the way. The book is about the author and the work, not the designer.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I like that no two manuscripts are ever quite the same. Even when the subject is familiar, the material can ask different things of the designer: a different structure, a different rhythm, a different way of handling the page. You can learn a lot by making books. And you can keep learning.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I’ve never understood the near-religious attachment some people have to computer platforms. To me, a computer is a tool. The real question is whether the tool lets me do the work I need to do. I wrote that in 2007. I still believe it.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Some projects are plain fun. Not because they're easy. Sometimes quite the opposite. The manuscript makes me look at it differently; the design problems are worth solving; the book deserves to find its audience; and somewhere along the way the collaboration clicks. That's why I like making books.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

There are clients who give you a manuscript and say, “Go ahead.” And then there are clients who want to discuss nearly everything. I’ve worked happily with both. What matters isn't whether a client is hands-on or hands-off. It's whether both sides trust the other to do their part.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The size of a book can seem incidental until you start designing the pages. Change the page size and everything changes: words per line, lines per page, margins, type size, even the way a chapter seems to move. A page isn't just a container for text. Its proportions are part of the design.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

When videoconferencing first became available on the Mac, I always looked for clients or prospects willing to try it. It took a while. Now I do it regularly and no longer feel like a Jetson. Technology changes. The principle doesn't: freelance work gives me the freedom to get on with the work.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

There’s nothing quite as fun as when a prospect says, “I’d like you to do the book,” and becomes a client. Freelancing means getting used to uncertainty: waiting for decisions, manuscripts, the next project. So when someone chooses you, it’s still a good feeling. Maybe that never gets old.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Some of my favorite books to design are the ones that make me work harder. Equations. Tables. Footnotes. Complicated references. Anything where the page won't simply fall into place. There's something satisfying about fitting the pieces together without making the reader work.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I used to think a designer's job was to stay in the shadows—to make an author's work easier to read without calling attention to myself. I still believe that. But the designer's choices always affect how readers meet the words. The goal is to influence the reading without becoming part of it.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Choosing type for a book isn't about how it looks. It's about how it reads. A typeface can look beautiful on screen and become tiring over hundreds of pages. Another may seem unremarkable until you realize you're reading without thinking about the type. That's a good sign.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

For me, choosing the body typeface starts the ball rolling. Once I’ve considered what the book is about and when it’s set, the rest begins to fall into place: display type, technical material, leading, margins, white space. The book begins to tell me what it wants to be.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

There’s the work you do. Then there’s business of doing the work—the work of finding work. Estimates. Proposals. Invoices. Follow-ups. Spreadsheets. Portfolio. Reminding people you exist. None of that is book design. All of it is part of being a freelancer. Fortunately, I get to make books.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Sometimes good book production means making something disappear. An author affiliation was originally a footnote, but the publisher decided to move it to the Contributors section. So I remove the footnote and callout, let the notes renumber, and move on. Just a cleaner book.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Sometimes one spread takes an embarrassing amount of time. Move a paragraph, the footnote changes. Fix the footnote, the next page changes. Fix that, a heading is stranded. It’s all about balance. Eventually it settles down and the spread works. The reader isn’t supposed to know it took an hour.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

One of the hardest things in book design is knowing when to stop. There is almost always something you could change. But “could” isn't the same as “should.” At some point, the design has done its job. That's when you leave it alone.

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stephentiano_bookdesigner @stephentiano.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Formatting makes text fit the page. Book design decides what the page needs to do: guide the eye, establish hierarchy, create rhythm, know when to leave well enough alone. The difference can be subtle. That's usually the point. So please stop calling it “formatting” when you mean “book design.”

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