The first section of the manual for the LaTeX Memoir class used to be an extended essay on book design and not at all LaTeX specific. I'm not entirely sure why the author removed it, but here's a link[1][large PDF] to a version with the section intact. If you're looking for more extended look at the concepts in the OP, check it out.

[1]: http://wwwcdf.pd.infn.it/localdoc/memman.pdf