Abstract

With so little commentary about Chinese typography available, this article outlines the design practice detail for building editorial and publication layout for Chinese language. Beginning with a brief overview of the importance of the geometric form of the square for the construction of letterforms and text blocks, consideration is then given to the placement and division of typography within print formats. Following this, a range of typographic disruptions, such as paragraph signifiers, headings, and quotes, are noted. The article also contextualizes the place of this practice through a careful analysis of key Chinese language publications, such as “The Selected Works of Mao Zedong” and “The Quotations of Mao Zedong.” These publications were chosen as exemplars because of their vast usage by common readers and because of their typographic excellence. The design practice knowledge was assembled around a grounded theory with layout being a key category of the theory.