What are running heads, anyway? And running feet? And should you care about how they are designed? Yes!
You might know a running head as a “header,” and a running foot as a “footer.” In fiction books, the running heads announce the author and book title on each spread. In nonfiction and anthologies, they help readers find their way around.
What text to include in your running heads and feet
In Book Design Made Simple, we devote chapter 27 to running heads, running feet, and folios (page numbers), along with several interesting design examples. Click here for a short excerpt from that chapter.
Running heads in fiction
In fiction, designers use running heads (let’s call them RH) about 99% of the time, as opposed to running feet (RF). Look inside any novel and you’ll see that this is true. On the verso (left-hand) pages, the author’s name appears, and on the recto (right-hand) pages the book title appears.
In a collection of stories all by the same author, put the book title on the left and the story name on the right.
All you need to know about running heads, running feet, and page numbers for your book. http://tinyurl.com/mzpxfjh8 Share on XIn a collection of stories by different authors, try the book title on the left and the story author and title on the right. Or the story title on the left and story author on the right. You may do it either way, or come up with something that works better for you.
Running heads in nonfiction
In nonfiction, there are lots of options:
- Book title left, chapter number (optional) and title right
- Part number and title left, chapter number and title right
- Chapter title left, current main heading right
- Essay author left, essay title right (in an anthology)
- Book author left, book title right
- Or any other combination that you think will help your reader
It all depends on what you want to emphasize and how you want your reader to be able to navigate. Figure out the best solution for your book.
Designing running heads, running feet, and folios
Running heads or running feet?
First of all, let’s remember that folios (page numbers) are a necessity, a vital part of your design scheme. Include them in all your design decisions.
Consider the overall design and layout of your book. Running heads and feet can support your layout needs just as much as your margins and type area.
- Do you need to save space to fit everything in? If so, put the RH or RF on the same line with the folio.
- Do you need to stretch it all out? Then put the RH at the top and the folio at the bottom.
- Is each page a distinct unit (as in a workbook, cookbook, or poetry book), with no set amount of white space at the bottom of each page? In a workbook, you could use a running foot plus folio at the bottom. In a cookbook or poetry book, you could use a running head plus a folio at the bottom. This will even out the appearance on each spread.
Examples below, with the RH or RF plus the folio in red.
Running heads and folios in these examples are being used to save space (left), stretch out text (center), and balance text on the page (in a cookbook in this example).
Where to place folios and running heads and feet
Here’s a direct quote from Book Design Made Simple:
Folios and running heads are placed at the top of pages, two baselines above the main text. In other words, there is one blank linespace between the running heads/folios and the main text.
Running feet are placed at the bottom of pages, two or three baselines below the main text so there are one or two blank linespaces between the main text and the running feet and folios.
(If you’re confused by the term “baseline,” here’s a book excerpt that explains it.)
This tells you just about everything you need to know. There is at least one exception, though.
In poetry books, you might want extra space above the poetry to the running heads/folios because at a glance, there’s probably little visual difference between them. You don’t want the reader to become annoyed by reading the darned RH every time they turn a page.
Alignment: centered or away from the spine?
Usually, folios are aligned away from the spine, on the outside of the text area. And running heads are most often centered. This is the most common design in fiction. But there are many other ways to arrange them.
First, consider the rest of your design. Are the headings centered throughout? If so, you should probably center the RH also. Are your headings on the left? Then consider placing the RH or RF on the inside above the text area, toward the spine. Or group the RH/RF with the folio away from the spine. If your printed book is going to be thick, remember that any type near the spine will be harder to read than type that’s on the outside of the page.
Here are examples of some of the possibilities:
Some of the ways to match the running head and folio placement to the overall design. These are all left-hand (verso) pages.
Decorations for running heads
Why not decorate? Sometimes a page could use a tiny bit of color or interest, so consider using a dingbat between the folio and running head or surrounding the RH.
Or a vertical rule that bleeds off the page might work well. The rule can align with the top or base of the type or extend a bit beyond it.
More creative placements for running heads
You may have seen books with folios on the very outside of pages, just about halfway between top and bottom. Or running heads that are vertical, reading up or down. These look like fun to design, right? But always remember to match your folios and running heads to the rest of your design. By the end of your design career, you will probably have many creative ideas that you never got a chance to use because they didn’t fit your projects. (And then you can write a blog post about them!)
All vertical type reads up on a verso page and down on a recto page. In the top example, the vertical type is “Part” and number, then the folio in the corner, and the part title horizontal; the recto page would read “Chapter” and number. In the middle example, notice that the running head aligns at the top of the text block. In the bottom example, the folio is placed above center, aligning with a text line.
What typeface and size to use for running heads and folios
This is not the place to introduce a new typeface into your design. Use your main or secondary text typeface. Never use a script font. Feel free to try italics or small caps for running heads and bold for folios.
Running heads are always at least one type size smaller than the text—or small caps of the same size as the text. Folios can be smaller, too, or the same size as the text; in a reference book, they might be larger than the text. You want folios to be very readable. If you’re going to print the RH/folios in color, they might stand out enough on the page so that they can be smaller. Try every possibility you can think of.
Pages without running heads or folios
Some pages of your book should never show a running head, running foot, or folio:
- Blank pages
- Half title page(s), title page, copyright page, dedication page. Other front matter pages can show folios if you like (usually following the Contents), but remember to start on the correct page number and use lowercase roman numerals.
- No running heads or feet on chapter or part opening pages. Do show folios on these pages, at the bottom. (In Book Design Made Simple we broke this particular rule, though!)
We mean for all of the above to serve as guidelines and to get you started. Some rules can be broken, but never forget to blend your running heads, running feet, and folios into your overall design so that they help the reader without getting in the way of the text.
Now you’re on your way to coming up with the best solution for your book. The variations are endless!
Read more: Book design basics » because it’s always best to stick with what works
And more: Typesetting poetry » so your poetry book will look its best
And try this: InDesign book template » so you can quickly begin with a strong foundation and then do your own thing
Book Design Made Simple. You can do it yourself.
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