31/8/18 - 28/9/18 (Week 1 - Week 5)
Seoh Yi Zhen (0328497)
Publishing II: Mass Communication
Project 1 - Content Generating
LECTURE NOTES
Lecture 1
21/9/18 (Week 4)
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:
- 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
While paper made its journey relatively late, the folding format started to take a foothold in the west at the turn of the century. First with wooden blocks with thread sewn to hold them together and then with parchment and later with paper, where paper was sewn, bound and glued together.
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
PROJECT 1
Text
Visuals
Week 3
These were some of the visual references I used when coming up with my own. I was interested in the idea of collages, but I wasn't exactly sure how to go about it.
Because I didn't really have a clear idea of how I wanted my visuals to look like, I ended up just experimenting with them on my own.
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| Fig. 1.4: Attempt (1). |
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| Fig. 1.5: Attempt (2). |
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| Fig. 1.6: Attempt (3). |
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| Fig. 1.7: Attempt (4). |
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| Fig. 1.8: Attempt (5). |
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| Fig. 1.9: Attempt (6). |
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| Fig. 1.10: Attempt (7). |
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| Fig. 1.11: Attempt (8). |
In the end, I chose the last visual that I experimented with as the direction for the rest of my visuals.
Week 4
After deciding on the visual style, I proceeded to create more using both Photoshop and Illustrator.
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| Fig. 2.1: Progress in Illustrator. |
Week 5
By this week, I managed to complete all 16 visuals. I also made adjustments to some of them based on Mr Vinod's feedback last week.
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| Fig. 3.1: Final visuals (1). |
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| Fig. 3.2: Final visuals (2). |
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| Fig. 3.3: Final visuals (3). |
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| Fig. 3.4: Final visuals (4). |
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| Fig. 3.5: Final visuals (5). |
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| Fig. 3.6: Final visuals (6). |
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| Fig. 3.7: Final visuals (7). |
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| Fig. 3.8: Final visuals (8). |
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| Fig. 3.9: Final visuals (9). |
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| Fig. 3.10: Final visuals (10). |
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| Fig. 3.11: Final visuals (11). |
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| Fig. 3.12: Final visuals (12). |
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| Fig. 3.13: Final visuals (13). |
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| Fig. 3.14: Final visuals (14). |
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| Fig. 3.15: Final visuals (15). |
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| Fig. 3.16: Final visuals (16). |
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| Fig. 3.17: Final 16 visuals. |
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
Honestly, the hardest part of this assignment for me was deciding on a visual style. Because I'm the kind of person who is very indecisive and likes to take my time experimenting with things, it was a challenge for me to put my foot down and just carry on with the rest of the work.
Observation
Even though I'm usually on top of things when it comes to my work and time management, I noticed that I struggled quite a bit during this entire project. I'm not exactly sure, but I think I kind of lost my momentum because of the long break that we had before this semester. And despite the fact that I'm used to pulling all-nighters, I observed that I've been staying up way too often already.
Findings
Having the right visual style is of utmost importance when it comes to designing a book, because the visuals themselves play a huge role in dictating the overall look and feel of the book. Not only do the visuals have to look good, but they have to relate to the written text as well.
FURTHER READING
Format by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris
31/8/18 - 14/9/18 (Week 1 - Week 3)
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| 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)
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| 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.
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