Forms, Folds, and Sizes by Poppy Evans

This book pulls together all those impossible to remember or seldom used details about envelope dimensions, packaging styles, color percentages, paper sizes, and type specs. Save yourself time thumbing through a dozen other design books to find the buried reference charts you need.

Much of the information found in this book is scattered around in tables, appendices, reference sections, and call-outs of dozens of other design and printing books you may already own. Even if you only need this information every now and then, having it all in one central location can save time and frustration.

The most useful sections are the illustrations and charts showing paper sizes and trimmed page sizes, binding styles, detailed envelope information, package diagrams, and the Process Color Finder charts.

Some information, such as the several pages of text typefaces seem too common and less useful than the detailed charts and diagrams for paper, envelopes, and packages. There is no clear start to each chapter so it's harder to find the start and stop points for each section by thumbing through -- the table of contents becomes essential. A little bit of color coding and more distinct chapter breaks would make it easier to read. But Forms, Folds, and Sizes does live up to its tagline: All the Details Graphic Designers Need to Know But Can Never Find.