The gathering of the bookies

A host of book design specialists today take on the thorny issue of e-books and what they could mean for the future of print design.

The topic is one of several burning questions that will be considered at the one-day conference on contemporary book design taking place in the St Bride Library in London’s Fleet Street.

As well as the potential impact of the e-book on designers, the session will cover subjects such as the benefits of designer collaborations with artists, and will ask whether it is possible to take an objective assessment of the book as a practical object.

Among the speakers are veteran book designer Derek Birdsall, freelance designer Robert Dalrymple, Professor of Typography at Central St Martins College of Art and Design Phil Baines and Penguin Press art director Jim Stoddart.