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Originally Posted by stumped
I did say it was my personal opinion.
& I have never searched for this, but if there are any reputable studies/surveys as to whether readers WANT dropcaps in their purchased e-books, I'd be interested to see the results. I have seen readability studies only.
but as more and more people read on small screens, my prediction is that they would be down-voted.
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Before I started to do DTP professionally, I was clueless as to book design. I just read them. No idea what a serif was.
And now I deal with authors who tell me: "I like Arial, why can't we do my book in that?"
If you've looked at self-published books, from Kindle or even worse, Smashwords, you see the results of design choices made by people without any study of the craft.
So I have a pretty low opinion of what the general public might vote for regarding book design.
However, as you admit, this disdain for styles isn't based on any surveys, simply your own personal opinion, which you are entitled to, but don't project it to what any, let alone most, others think.
Of course, my opinion is just that too. But vastly more cultured and educated people have written books about this.
On opening paragraphs, this is what Robert Bringhurst says in
The Elements of Typographic Style, which is the Bible for book design:
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Originally Posted by Robert Bringhurst
The simplest way of beginning any block of prose is to start from the margin, flush left, as this paragraph does. On a peaceful page, where the text is announced by a head or subhead, this is enough. But if the text, or a new section of text, begins at the top of a page with no heading to mark it, a little fanfare will probably be required. The same is true if the opening page is busy. If there is a chapter title, an epigraph, a sidenote, and a photograph and caption, the opening of the text will need a banner, a ten-gallon hat or a bright red dress to draw the eye.
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And he goes on to discuss drop and elevated caps, fleurons, etc.