Publishing II - Exercises
31/8/18 - 28/9/18 (Week 1 - Week 5)
Seoh Yi Zhen (0328497)
Publishing II: Mass Communication
Exercises
The book is a medium to document and transmit ideas, knowledge, records, history and so much more. Full of historical significance, it is the oldest format of publishing, and also one of the most important and influential formats. Most of the important advances in publishing were centered around the book.
Historically, there are a few different formats used across time in different civilizations around the world:
Lecture 2
21/9/18 (Week 4)
Paper was first invented in China during 179-41 BCE. It is probably one of the most important ingredients in the process of printing.
Transfer was initially done via rubbing (stone to paper), hence mass production was enabled. The earliest printed document was found in Korea, produced by carving text into wooden blocks. These were great achievements of the Buddhist era.
The introduction of moveable type was introduced around 1000-1100 CE. This innovation was pioneered in China but achieved in Korea. In the late 14th century, several decades before the earliest printing in Europe (Guttenberg's bible, 1439), the Koreans had already established a foundry to cast movable type in bronze.
Lecture 3
28/9/18 (Week 5)
Typography is the art of arranging and composing text, it is also a medium for expression and most importantly communication. It plays a central role in any design work.
If the goal when working with type is to make a body of text more readable, then heeding established legibility guidelines is of utmost importance. Departure from these "rules" should be attempted when the designer is totally familiarized with them, and when the content lends itself to expressive interpretation.
In order to make type legible, the first step is to choose text typefaces that are open and well proportioned. Besides the choice of type, there are many other aspects to consider as well, such as special styles, type size, line length, line spacing, character and word space, alignment, paragraph spacing, paragraph indents and special formatting.
For our first exercise, we were tasked to explore a few possible sizes for the book we're to create for this class. The size requirement is that it must be bigger than A5 but smaller than A4.
The size that I ended up choosing is 160 mm x 240 mm. Then, we proceeded to create a mock-up by staple binding 8 sheets of A3 paper and cutting the booklet down to size.
Signature Folding Systems
For this exercise, we had to fold an A3 sheet of paper into 8 equal sections, and label each section accordingly as if they were book pages.
Classical Grid Structure
The grid that we were required to create is known as the Van de Graaf grid. The purpose of the exercise is to study how geometry plays a part in the way that page proportions, margins and type areas (print spaces) of books are constructed.
Text Formatting
In this exercise, we had to typeset a few variations in order to determine the best one for our books. Because typefaces always look different in print than on screen, I had to print out my type specimen sheet in order to compare each combination.
Publications are conceived and developed for any number of reasons. However, the goals of most publications can be broken down into four categories. Publications exist to inform, persuade, sell or entertain.
Seoh Yi Zhen (0328497)
Publishing II: Mass Communication
Exercises
LECTURE NOTES
Lecture 1
21/9/18 (Week 4)
Historically, there are a few different formats used across time in different civilizations around the world:
- Mesopotamian Civilization
- Writing system developed from a counting technology
- Progression from simple and complex tokens to bullae
- Pictographic writing on clay tablets
- Indus Valley Civilization
- Their writing, cuneiform, was one of the earliest writing systems
- Writings on soft clay tablets using sharp pointed tools
- Ancient Egyptian Civilization
- Only scribes could read and write
- Invention of papyrus made from the pith of the papyrus plant
- Hieroglyphic writing on papyrus and tomb walls
- Han Chinese Civilization
- Chinese characters written in vertical columns on thin bamboo strips
- Longer documents were created by threading bamboo strips together
- Earliest known printed book is Chinese
- Pioneer of wood block printing for publishing
- European Civilization
- Invention of parchment made from animal hide
- Creation of parchment books
Lecture 2
21/9/18 (Week 4)
Paper was first invented in China during 179-41 BCE. It is probably one of the most important ingredients in the process of printing.
Transfer was initially done via rubbing (stone to paper), hence mass production was enabled. The earliest printed document was found in Korea, produced by carving text into wooden blocks. These were great achievements of the Buddhist era.
The introduction of moveable type was introduced around 1000-1100 CE. This innovation was pioneered in China but achieved in Korea. In the late 14th century, several decades before the earliest printing in Europe (Guttenberg's bible, 1439), the Koreans had already established a foundry to cast movable type in bronze.
Lecture 3
28/9/18 (Week 5)
Typography is the art of arranging and composing text, it is also a medium for expression and most importantly communication. It plays a central role in any design work.
If the goal when working with type is to make a body of text more readable, then heeding established legibility guidelines is of utmost importance. Departure from these "rules" should be attempted when the designer is totally familiarized with them, and when the content lends itself to expressive interpretation.
In order to make type legible, the first step is to choose text typefaces that are open and well proportioned. Besides the choice of type, there are many other aspects to consider as well, such as special styles, type size, line length, line spacing, character and word space, alignment, paragraph spacing, paragraph indents and special formatting.
INSTRUCTIONS
EXERCISES
Mock-up Making
For our first exercise, we were tasked to explore a few possible sizes for the book we're to create for this class. The size requirement is that it must be bigger than A5 but smaller than A4.
 |
| Fig. 1.1: Size exploration. |
 |
| Fig. 1.2: Size exploration. From left: 160 mm x 240 mm; 148 mm x 22 mm; 180 mm x 180 mm. |
The size that I ended up choosing is 160 mm x 240 mm. Then, we proceeded to create a mock-up by staple binding 8 sheets of A3 paper and cutting the booklet down to size.
 |
| Fig 1.3: Completed mock-up (1). |
 |
| Fig 1.4: Completed mock-up (2). |
 |
| Fig. 1.5: Staple binding. |
 |
| Fig. 1.6: Spread. |
Signature Folding Systems
For this exercise, we had to fold an A3 sheet of paper into 8 equal sections, and label each section accordingly as if they were book pages.
 |
| Fig. 2.1: Signature fold. |
 |
| Fig. 2.2: Page numbering. |
Classical Grid Structure
The grid that we were required to create is known as the Van de Graaf grid. The purpose of the exercise is to study how geometry plays a part in the way that page proportions, margins and type areas (print spaces) of books are constructed.
 |
| Fig. 3.1: Van de Graaf grid. |
 |
| Fig. 3.2: Digitized grid based on the chosen size of the book. |
Text Formatting
In this exercise, we had to typeset a few variations in order to determine the best one for our books. Because typefaces always look different in print than on screen, I had to print out my type specimen sheet in order to compare each combination.
FEEDBACK
Week 2
The format is okay, but add either a subtext or pull quote for the introduction. You can also highlight something to illustrate for the introduction as well.
Week 3
The first one that I did was interesting but the background is quite common. Regarding the rest, Mr Vinod said to take a few hours off, look at other pieces of work, and after that look at the work produced and make a decision.
Week 4
The visuals are interesting, but make sure to add some large ones as well in order to create more contrast. Because the style that I chose is quite minimalist, I have to make sure that the visuals can still impact the overall look of the book even if it is in a subtle way.
Week 5
The visuals might become too graphical and there might be a lot of empty space so be mindful of that when laying out the book later. Try to balance out the visuals with a heavier type.
REFLECTION
Experience
Although I'm not the best at manual work because I'm extremely clumsy, I enjoyed the exercises that we had to do. It felt nice to be off my laptop and actually making something with my own hands. I just need to remind myself to be more careful as I almost sliced my finger when making the mock-up of the book. I also enjoyed doing the type specimen sheet because I had fun pairing all the different typefaces together.
Observation
Three cups of coffee and a blade is not a good combination. I may not be the best at manual work, but I'm not helplessly terrible either. However, I noticed that when I was cutting the paper, my hands were shaking so much that I almost hurt myself. Maybe this is a sign that I should start getting a decent amount of sleep.
Findings
Although most layout work nowadays is done digitally, it's good to execute some parts of the process manually as well. Not only does it give you a more tangible experience of the publishing process, it also helps you to visualize the final outcome better when you're able to see actual size mock-ups along the way.
FURTHER READING
Format by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris
31/8/18 - 14/9/18 (Week 1 - Week 3)
 |
| Fig. 5.1: Format. |
A book is a means of organizing and presenting many pieces of information in one package. Whether compiling related vignettes, applying a sequential order or collating otherwise random pieces of information, books become a sum of their parts.
Book format considerations include the nature and quantity of information to be presented, the anticipated lifetime of the product, and of course the perennial factors of target audience and cost. These affect choices such as stock selection, size and print finishing. For example, colour graphics need higher quality paper stocks to reproduce a good image; and to ensure a long lifetime, a higher quality paper stock, durable binding and hard cover will be needed.
Choosing paper size and stock provides a starting point for a project, though there are many opportunities for a creative departure through print finishing techniques, where elements are combined to produce unique and innovative designs.
Publication Design by Poppy Evans
21/9/18 - 28/9/18 (Week 4 - Week 5)
 |
| Fig. 5.2: Publication Design. |
Publications are conceived and developed for any number of reasons. However, the goals of most publications can be broken down into four categories. Publications exist to inform, persuade, sell or entertain.
- Inform: Textbooks are conceived as an instructional aid for students who want to learn about a certain topic. In addition to textbooks, other publications that educate or inform include instructional manuals, newspapers, encyclopedias, dictionaries and directories.
- Persuade: Publications that persuade try to convince the reader to make a decision or act in a deliberate way. Examples of persuasive publications include campaign literature, travel brochures and other promotional literature that persuades its audience to buy or invest in a product or service.
- Sell: Sales literature is different from persuasive publications in that it serves as a sales vehicle. Publications that sell allow the reader to see merchandise, make informed choices and then follow through with a purchase. Catalogs, for instance, allow a reader to read about, select and order merchandise.
- Entertain: Publications that entertain include novels, comic books, or any other publication that exists solely for the purpose of entertaining the reader.
Although some publications have just one goal, many publications have more than one goal. For instance, magazines contain useful information, provide some entertainment value, and include ads that attempt to persuade the reader to buy advertised products and services.
As form always follows function, identifying the primary goal of a publication is the first step in conceiving an effective design approach.
Comments
Post a Comment