Pleasures of Design

A neat centred cover might be enough for an internal report, but if you want readers to open it voluntarily, something more lively will be needed. But don´t make it too complicated.

The cover of a document may need to do no more than tell the reader what´s in it. At the other extreme it may have to persuade the reluctant passer-by to pick it up and open it.

In either case the display of lettering on the cover will have to be strong enough to "contain" what is inside. Just as a cover paper is usually stiffer than the paper inside, so the cover typography should be more robust than the text. This can be achieved by using large and bold type; it is not necessary to resort to a wild variety of typefaces and sizes.