English usage and grammar in publication design

This article looks at English usage and grammar in publication design, more specifically at how they can be used on the cover page of a publication or book.

Every publication has a cover page and there is always a title on it. Usually there is also the name of the author and sometimes there is also a brief description, a few lines or maybe a phrase or paragraph explaining what the publication is about. There is also usually a photograph or illustration on it.
These modules, or elements, I guess you could call them, can be independent of each other or they can be connected in some way.

Basic English usage on cover page in publication design

A basic example of how two modules, the title and author, can be connected is by using the word ‘by.’ There is usually the title, then the word ‘by,’ which is followed by the name of the author.
This system is fine for many publications - novels for example. In this instance, ‘by’ is just about the only ‘connecting word’ that can be used (in English grammar, these ‘connecting words’ are called articles or conjunctions.)

More complex English usage on cover page in publication design

However, the situation might be different with some types of publication.
Some publications might have several lines or phrases that are used to explain what the publication is about. Let’s call these several lines or phrases ‘descriptive modules’.
These modules can be independent of each other or they can be connected to each other by a connecting word (ie. article or conjunction) or by a phrase.
In a future post I’ll publish as an example the cover page of a publication where several of these descriptive modules have been connected to each other, using connecting words aka articles or conjunctions, or by using phrases.