Type Electives Contemporary Book Design is a ten-week live online course taught by Kevin Barrett Kane and Emma Hall, running on Tuesdays from 2 February to 13 April 2027, 7 to 10 pm ET. It covers the history, theory and practice of designing books, from paragraph styles and hyphenation to covers, materials and manufacturing. Each week has a three-hour live class on Zoom, with optional office hours on Thursdays. The course is for intermediate and advanced designers, has 18 seats with open enrolment, and costs $1,200.

Book design is one of the oldest branches of typography and one of the most demanding, because every decision is repeated across hundreds of pages. What makes this course different is its teaching pair: two working book designers, one from scholarly academic publishing and one from Big Five trade publishing. That mix lets you see how the same craft is applied to very different kinds of books, and the course ends with a real deliverable rather than a set of exercises.

What You Will Learn

The course moves from the inside of a book to its outside and then to its production. Based on the official page, topics include:

The history and theory behind contemporary book design
Setting up paragraph and character styles for long documents
Using variable type in long-form text
Hyphenation and justification settings for even, readable pages
Designing book covers
Preparing mechanicals, the files printers work from
Choosing materials and understanding manufacturing and assembly
Producing a complete book file for print-on-demand

Who Is Type Electives Contemporary Book Design For?

The official page describes the course as intermediate to advanced. It suits graphic designers who already set type with confidence and want to specialise in books, editorial designers moving into long-form work, and self-publishing designers who want their books to meet professional standards.

It is not a first course in typography. If you are still learning how to choose and pair typefaces, or how to build a grid, start with a general typography course and come back to this one. The workload is also significant: three hours of class each week for ten weeks, plus your own book project.

Course Structure

The course runs for ten weeks in spring 2027:

Dates: Tuesdays, 2 February to 13 April 2027
Time: 7 to 10 pm ET
Live class: three hours each week on Zoom
Office hours: optional, Thursdays 7 to 8 pm ET
Group size: 18 seats
Final result: a whole book file, including cover, mechanical, special effects and interior, ready for print-on-demand
Possible extra: a bonus class on Kindle Direct Publishing

Price and Access

Type Electives Contemporary Book Design costs $1,200 with open enrolment, so there is no application or portfolio review. Seats are limited to 18. Check the official page for the current price and availability before you sign up.

About the Instructors and the School

Kevin Barrett Kane and Emma Hall are both practising book designers. Between them they bring experience from scholarly academic publishing and from one of the Big Five trade publishers. Type Electives, which runs the course, is an online school co-founded by Lynne Yun and Juan Villanueva, offering live classes in type design, lettering and creative technology, as well as scholarships.

Things to Consider

Time zone: classes run 7 to 10 pm ET; check your local time, as it can be very late in Europe.
Commitment: ten weekly three-hour classes, plus time to work on your book between them.
Software: the official page does not list required software, so confirm it with Type Electives before the start.
Content: have a text in mind for your book, so you can apply each topic to real material.
Outcome: you leave with a print-on-demand-ready file, a useful portfolio piece.
Cost: if the fee is a barrier, ask about the scholarships Type Electives offers.

How to Get the Most From It

Choose your book project before the first class. A manuscript you care about, whether your own writing, a public-domain text or a client project, will keep you motivated across ten weeks. Use the Thursday office hours for specific questions about your file; they are the best chance to get detailed advice on your own pages.

Start the Course

Interested in learning with Type Electives?

Start Contemporary Book Design

For the full syllabus and pricing, visit the official Type Electives website.

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Last verified: November 12, 2026

Contemporary Book Design by Type Electives