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Van de Graaf Canon

Van de Graaf Canon example frame

The medieval page construction where the text block sits in the same proportion as the page.

What it does

Jan Tschichold reconstructed the canon used in medieval manuscripts and early printed books: diagonals drawn across the spread locate a text block whose proportions match the page, with the inner margin half the outer and the head margin half the foot. The block therefore sits above centre and toward the spine. It is not decoration but a solution to a physical problem, that the eye and the thumb both need room, and it still looks right because of that.

The prompt

A book spread for [Subject] set to the Van de Graaf canon. Text block proportioned identically to the page, positioned above centre and toward the spine, inner margin exactly half the outer and head margin half the foot. Single old-style serif, one size, generous leading, no ornament. Faint construction diagonals visible as guides. Letterpress on cream laid stock.

Replace [Subject] with what you are shooting. Everything else is deliberate: the gear, stock and lighting are what push a generator towards this look.

Works well in

Midjourney, FLUX, Ideogram

Pairs with

Centred Axial SymmetryModular Grid

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