Gavin Ambrose is a practising graphic designer whose client base includes the arts sector, galleries, publishers and advertising agencies. He has written and designed several books on graphic design, branding and packaging. Paul Harris is a freelance writer and editor. His work has appeared extensively in magazines and journals on both sides of the Atlantic, including style bible Dazed & Confused.

Introduction. Format: choosing a paper size; ISO and American paper sizes; standard web sizes; film and moving image; file formats; exercise: format/proportion. Layout and grids: why use a grid?; the perimeter; juxtaposition; pace and hierarchy; the Golden Section and Fibonacci numbers; baseline grid; exercise: active and passive/looking closer. Typography: type; anatomy of a typeface; describing type; classification systems; extended type families; typographic colour; type generation; vertical and horizontal spacing; type personality; special characters and ligatures; Frutiger's grid; type detailing; typographic themes; exercise: type classification/type in the environment. Image: image meaning; image types; altering images; type as image; layers; exercise: juxtaposition/symbols and icons. Colour: understanding colour; basic terminology; specials or spot colours; colour combinations; colouring images; colour as branding; exercise: emotional swings / colour combinations. Print finishing: paper types; paper engineering; lithography and CTP; four-colour tints; fore-edge printing; screen-printing; letterpress; hot metal type; varnishes; physical finishing; folding, throwouts and gatefolds; binding; exercise: printed ephemera / woodblock composition. Glossary. Index. Contacts and credits. Working with ethics.