Thames & Hudson launches Big Ideas series

Thames & Hudson is to launch a Big Ideas series on 6th September, with titles investigating capitalism, democracy, gender and space.

Each title is priced at £12.95 and their vibrant, colourful covers enclose a page design that is “presented in a format designed to put readers in the driving seat”, the publisher’s head of illustrated reference, Tristan de Lancey, says.

Pages are laid out using “quick-recognition text hierarchy”. In essence, it’s a kind of choose-your-own-adventure using fonts: paragraphs are set in type of differing sizes depending on their imporance, and so the publisher claims: “If readers have only half an hour to spare they can read all the paragraphs set in the two largest font sizes and still get a basic overview of the subject; alternatively, with two hours at their disposal, they can read the entire text”.

The editions also come with a French flap at the back, which folds out to reveal a handy timeline of key milestones pertinent to the topic, which can be extended and referenced while reading the copy—of whichever size you wish. The books were designed in-house and printed by Asia Pacific Offset.