Publishing Design: Task 1

23.04.2024 - 04.06.2024 (Week 1 - Week 7)

Sorcha Griselda / 0353056 

Publishing Design / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Task 1 | Exercises

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LECTURE

Week 2

1. Early Digital Publishing (1960s-2000s)

• Peak of printing press era: magazines and newspapers thrived as key communication channels, impacting society through information and entertainment.
• The rise of e-books marks a significant shift in digital publishing, offering portability and accessibility to readers.
• Publishers grapple with issues of piracy and ensuring compatibility across various e-reader platforms.
• Publishers embrace mobile-first friendly.

2. Data Analytics and Personalization

• Enables publishers to understand reader behavior and preferences.
• Personalization trends leverage analytics yo deliver tailored content recommendations and targeted advertising, enhancing reader engagement.

3. Challenges and Opportunities

• Opportunities for innovation and growth include exploring new revenue streams like subscriptions and sponsored content.

Week 3

• Each year, over 4 million books are published all round the world.
• Lithography is a planographic printmaking process in which a design is drawn onto a flat stone and affixed by means of a chemical reaction.
• Periodicals = regular publications, such as newspapers and magazines
• Non-periodicals = standalone books
• Trade Books rely on impulse buying and individual interest, such as self-help books and they have higher pricing structure.
• Text Books targets faculty members, teachers and students and they are generally cheaper.
• Usually, author gets 10% of the total sales while 90% goes to publisher.
• Publisher involves in market research, consulting, design, production, marketing, sales, distribution, printing, copyrighting fees and many more.
• Self-published author may get more, 40%-60% of total profit.
• Typical book comes in 6 x 9 inch size, Times New Roman for body text, Helvetica for title, 1 column, flush left, big margins especially at the bottom.
• Transparent approach - design doesn’t intrude.
• Mood approach - could be designed more elegantly (such as more margin, space).
• Unity must be the goal in designing book - a template of structure and design convention, even brand identity.
• When designing cover, avoid reveal too much of the plot. Use metaphor, graphic that has good central idea of the books story and theme.
• Some books started at page 9, some may be far as 11. It is rare for the story to start just after the front cover.
• Various pages are added before a story began: preface, acknowledgement, a dedication page, her profile, a little background story, table of contents.

Lecture 01 | Formats

The Book

• Books are very important and have a lot of influence since a lot of important publications center on them. 
• They act as a channel for the documenting and dissemination of information, history, records, and ideas. 
• Designing a book requires a sophisticated knowledge of typography, an acute sense of spatial organization, attention to detail, and skill with publishing software. 
• In order to improve readability and engagement, it is crucial to take the intended audience into account and adjust the design appropriately. 

Q: In your view, what factor/s influence and determine the format of the book?

• The demands of the audience
• For example, it's important to make sure the book is the right size for a child audience. The materials selected also need to correspond with the age range. 
• The content of the book is another factor.
• If it covers a wide range of subjects, going with a larger font size might be required to properly fit all the content.
• Aspects like size, material choice, and binding also have a big impact on the overall design.

Historical Formats

Innovation almost always shadows technology, which creates opportunity.

Fig 1.1 Regions & Civilizations

• Mesopotamian Civilization (Iran-Iraq)
• The earliest writing system in Mesopotamia was created using counting technology. 
• The transition from basic and intricate tokens to the bullae gave rise to the initial instances of pictographic writing on clay tablets.

Fig 1.2 Mesopotamia

• Indus Valley Civilization (India- Pakistan-Afghanistan)
• Although there aren't many records from the Indus River Valley Civilizations, it is known that they had a sophisticated system. 
• Their writing system, Cuneiform, was among the first writing systems ever devised. Sharp, pointed tools were used to write on soft clay tablets.
• Their records included trade, religion, and government.

Fig 1.3 Indus River Valley

• Ancient Egyptian Civilization (Egypt)
• Only scribes in ancient Egypt were literate in Hieroglyphic writing.
• Scribes would write on the walls of the tombs as well as on papyrus (a unique kind of paper derived from the pith of a papyrus plant).

Fig 1.4 Egypt

• Han Chinese Civilization (China)
• Early Chinese characters were written in vertical columns. This meant that a narrow bamboo strip was ideal for a single column. 
• Two lines of thread were used to connect the bamboo strips in a larger document. 

Fig 1.5 Han-China

• From the T'ang Dynasty, a Chinese book is the oldest known printed book. In 1899, it was found in a cave in Dunhuang. Paper was the material, and it was arranged in a scroll. 

Fig 1.6 Diamond Sutra | 868 CE

• Using wood blocks for printing is a time-consuming procedure. 
• Confucian classics were published in the 10th and 11th centuries for use by scholar officials, along with a diverse range of writings by Buddhists and Taoists. 
• Although it appears to have originated in China, Korea is credited with creating the invention of cutting wood blocks in reverse.

Fig 1.7 Korean Wood Block Carving

• European Civilization (Turkey & The West)
• Turkey has been associated with inventing parchment (197–159 BC). 

Fig 1.8 Turkey & The West

• Paper use would gradually move to the west.
• In the years 1400–1500 CE, paper became commonly available in Europe. 

Fig 1.9 Dead Sea Scrolls

Lecture 02 | History of Print

2nd - 8th Century AD

The Chinese Emperor orders that the six major Confucian classics be etched into stone in the year 175 AD. The Confucian academics had to lay paper on the engraved slabs and rub it with charcoal or graphite because they were eager to possess the essential scriptures.

Fig 2.1 Engraved Slabs

Fig 2.2 Brass-Rubbing 

Korea & Japan: AD 750 - 768

One amazing accomplishment of East Asian Buddhism is the creation of printing. A sutra produced in Korea around AD 750 on a single sheet of paper is the oldest known printed scripture. 

Fig 2.3 Dharani Sutra

The empress of Buddhist Nara commissioned a big lucky charm or prayer in AD 768. A million copies of the project were printed and given to pilgrims; it is said to have taken six years to finish. The famous woodblock print is known as Hyakumantō Darani. 

Fig 2.4 Hyakumantō Darani

The first printed book: AD 868

The scroll is one foot high and sixteen feet long. It was created by joining the edges of paper. The scroll's first sheet had the earliest printed picture, which showed an enthroned Buddha surrounded by Holy Attendants. 

Fig 2.5 Diamond's Sutra Illustration

Movable Type: from 11th century

Before printing became an effective means of disseminating information, movable type (separated ready-made characters or letters that may be placed in the right order for a certain text and then reused) was a required. The idea had been tried as early as the 11th century in China. The Chinese script's excessive character count made typecasting and typesetting extremely difficult. Another is that Chinese printers make their characters overly delicate for the intended use by casting them in clay and heating them like pottery.

Type foundry in Korea: c.1380

Koreans founded a foundry in the latter part of the 14th century to cast metal type that could be moved. Bronze is a robust material that can be repeatedly printed on, disassembled, and reset for new writing. Since the Koreans were still using Chinese writing at the time, they had the issue of having a large character set. This was resolved in 1443 when they created ashan'gul, or their own alphabet. 

Saints & Playing Cards: AD c.1400

The printing method using wood blocks was brought to Europe in 1400. Similar to how they were printed in the East, the images were created by simply placing a sheet of paper on a block that had been carved and inked, then rubbing the ink off of it. The primary market is sacred images for pilgrims to purchase, similar like in the east. Another early item from the western trade is playing cards. 

Fig 2.6 Engraving by the Master of Playing Cards

Gutenberg & Western Printing: AD 1439 - 1457

The first recorded mention of Gutenberg in relation to printing dates back to a Strasbourg court case in 1439. Nothing from this era has remained, but Gutenberg is credited with printing tiny passages of text from moveable type, which is what Strasburg does. The second time Gutenberg is mentioned in connection with printing, it was in 1450 in Maine when he borrowed 800 guilders from Johann Fust, securing the loan with his printing equipment. 

Fig 2.7 Gutenberg

One of Gutenberg's innovations was the printing press, which could exert a constant, quick downward pressure. As a result of his proficiency with metal, Gutenberg was able to master the many steps involved in producing individual pieces of type, such as making a master copy of each letter, designing molds that can be used to cast multiple versions of the letter, and manufacturing an alloy that is appropriate for casting the letter. This sophisticated technology comes before the fundamental task of printing.

Fig 2.8 Gutenberg's printing

The Bible printed by Gutenberg did not include dates. In the middle of the 1450s, it was printed concurrently on six presses. It is known that at least one copy was finished on August 24, 1456, with the starting letters manually colored in red. 

Fig 2.9 Gutenberg's bible

Lecture 03 | The Grid

Raster Systeme

The application of grids as ordering systems is a representation of a particular way of thinking that shows how a designer generates their work in a constructive way. 

The grid divides a two-dimensional plane into smaller fields, and a three-dimensional area into smaller compartments. The sizes of the compartments may be the same or different. 

The Purpose of the Grid

Designers utilize grids to overcome visual challenges. A designer can strategically position text, images, and diagrams in a logical and useful way by organizing surface and spaces into a grid. 

This produces a feeling of clarity, comprehensibility, and compact planning. In terms of design practice, it also implies orderliness.

Fig 3.1 Usage of Grids

Modular

Even though the grid is modular, it shouldn't be used as a constraint. It does permit flexibility—that is when the designer can see a wide range of possible configurations.

However, a limit must be established in order to retain a degree of continuity or coherence in the outlook and navigation. Much of this is dependent upon the contents of the book because the scope of each book might vary. A grid makes it possible to organize information such that it is simple to read and comprehend.        

Lecture 04 | Typography Redux

Typography

Typography is like breathing to a graphic designer. The most crucial aspect of graphic design to become proficient in if we want to hold ourselves to high standards. It is the craft of structuring and writing text. In addition, it also serves as a medium for expression and most importantly in communication. It plays a major role in design work. 

Our comprehension and sense gained over the last two semesters will be vital to book design.

Characters in a typeface

• Small caps
• Numerals 
• Fractions
• Ligatures
• Punctuations
• Mathematical signs
• Symbols
• Non-aligning figures

Fig 4.1 Characters in a typeface

Fig 4.2 Ligature

Fig 4.3 Weights in a typeface

Legibility

It is crucial to follow recognized legibility rules in order to ensure that a body text is readable. A designer must be fully aware of these guidelines in order to deviate from them. It is necessary to select typefaces that are open and well proportioned in order to make text readable. 

Fig 4.4 Open and Well-proportioned

Fig 4.5 Examples of Well-proportioned Typefaces

There were a lot of new features available for typesetting using computers. Nevertheless this also had drawbacks, such as typographic norms being broken at the reader's expense by those who were unaware of them. A few things need to be kept in mind to make sure the type is readable.

• Underline: Many programs perform underlining wrongly, since it should be lowered to avoid touching the characters, which reduces readability. There are two different kinds of underlining: one that emphasizes every word in the text, and another that emphasizes the sentence overall. 

Fig 4.6 Examples of Underlining

• All Caps & Small Caps: Small capitals work well for subheads and the opening sentence of paragraphs. Short headlines or subheadings should employ text that is all caps. It is important to note that using all caps in lengthy sentences or for emphasis is not allowed. The purpose of capital letters was not to be used freely, but rather to be punctuated. 

Fig 4.7 All Caps & Small Caps

• Special-Purpose Style: Software for creating footnotes, references, and mathematical calculations comes with a variety of formatting styles. A typical user might not be aware of them because they are typically embedded or buried within the tools sections. 

Fig 4.8 Special-Purpose

• Text Scaling: By squeezing or extending a font horizontally or vertically, many programs enable the development of pseudo-condense or pseudo-extended fonts. This warps the font's original design and gives it a cheap appearance. 

Fig 4.9 Text Scaling

• Outline & Shadow: Another often misused style is outline and shadow. To properly and efficiently format text, one must have years of experience. It shouldn't go over one point for the outline. Make sure shadows stay at a reasonable distance of the primary text.

Fig 4.10 Outline & Shadow

A harmonious balance between font sizes, line lengths, and spacing between lines of type results in text that reads smoothly. Impairment to legibility is impartial and can even impact well-designed types. A type column should have a maximum of 65 characters, with most columns having roughly 50. If not, the words would be difficult to read due to their excessive cramming. 

The amount of space between type lines is referred to as leading/line spacing. There are no exact rules for line spacing, just like there are for font size. But there are a few things to be mindful about:

• The typeface that was employed: In order to prevent their ascenders and descenders from touching, some require a greater line spacing than others.
• The line length: For easier reading, longer lines need extra leading.
• The type size: More line spacing is needed the larger the type size (this guideline primarily applies to body copy). However, headlines which are often set with a bigger font size, may also have a tighter line spacing. 

A reader becomes weary and loses interest in a book when lines of text are either too long or too short. 

Fig 4.11 Example of Long text

Fig 4.12 Example of Short Text

Depending on the program used to format text, additional care is required. To prevent widows and orphans, larger type sizes necessitate adjusting the spacing between characters and paragraphs.

• Kerning: Inter-character spacing, sometimes known as kerning, gives the text a nicer appearance. The majority of page layout products apply kerning automatically, while the majority of word processors do not permit kerning modifications. However, some letter combinations may require manual changes.

Fig 4.13 Kerning

• Tracking: It is the process of adjusting a specific set of characters, words, and spaces. The primary goal is to fit the type within the designated space without changing the font's size or line spacing. It could be either favorable or bad. Fixing individual words or the conclusion of a paragraph is a crucial use. 

The chosen typeface and word spacing can help identify the appropriate word spacing. Consistent spacing results in a uniform typographic "colour". 

Fig 4.14 Word Space

• Italics: Should be used carefully. Reading becomes difficult with large sections of slanted writing. It works better when used to emphasize points inside text than when it stands alone as text. 
• Capitals: Take up more room and make reading more difficult. It isn't visually interesting. 

Alignment

• Flush left, ragged right: Results in relatively uniform letter and word spacing. It is simpler to find the new lines because they terminate at various spots. This aligned text is the easiest to read.
• Rough left, flush right: This is unfavorable to the reader. It is appropriate for brief passages, but not for lengthy ones.
• Centered alignments: Look very formal and work well when used properly. However, this method should not be used for vast volumes of text.
• Justified text: Can be particularly readable if the space between words is uniform and awkward rivers do not disrupt the text's flow.

Paragraph Spacing

Paragraph space is an automatic space between each paragraphs. It can be placed above or below paragraphs. It is more elegant than simply double spacing returns. 

Fig 4.15 Paragraph Spacing

Paragraph Indent

In cases where the text is justified, indentation should be utilized. It may be excessive to use both paragraph spacing and indentation. The indent should be 10 points if the type size is 10 points. 

Special Formatting

Although they can also be used to separate text from one line to the next, hyphens are primarily employed to divide words or numerals. Never hyphenate a headline or subhead at the end of a line. 

Fog 4.16 Hyphens & Dashes

It's often necessary to break lines to make text readable. When the goal is to break the line, simply typing a return can change the formatting. Most programs offer line breaks (Shift+Return) to sidestep the issue.

Fig 4.17 Special Formatting

Reports with new chapters or special parts should begin with drop caps. There shouldn't be more than three lines. Avoid using programs without auto settings if they don't exist. 

Fig 4.18 Drop Caps

DeskTop Quotes:

Fig 4.19 Quotation Marks

Side Bar:

It is attached to the primary body copy. It draws attention to alternate narratives or facts. 

Fig 4.20 Side Bar

Lecture 05 | Elements

All publication consist of 3 major elements:

1. Type
2. Colour
3. Image

Holding these three together are format and grids.

Variation

While incorporating variance into the layout, a designer should keep the book's overall style consistent. This means introducing flexibility in the arrangement and combination of components, but leaving other sections permanent, such as the hang line, typography, color, and image styles. 

Fig 5.1 Variation with Consistency

The variation in the image above is produced inside the grid system. However, this does not imply that each page requires a distinct variation, as they can be reused and rotated. 

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INSTRUCTIONS

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Exercise 01 | Text Formatting

For our book project, we were assigned the task of writing 3000 words of material. Below is the draft for my book's content.

Fig 6.1 Text Formatting | PDF

Exercise 02 | Mock-up Making

We were directed to watch a video by Mr. Hijjaz on how to execute this exercise. Our task was to explore three sizes larger than A5 but smaller than A4. To prepare for this, I gathered A3 papers, a stapler, a steel ruler, a cutter, and a pencil. Thus, I tried the following sizes:

• 278mm x 208mm
• 260mm x 185 mm
• 230mm x 200mm

Fig 7.1 Book Size Exploration

Fig 7.2 Stapler Binding

Exercise 03 | Signature Folding Systems (8+8=16)

For this exercise, I used A2 paper that is provided by Mr. Hijjaz in class. First, I folded the paper following his instructions. Then, I labeled the pages with their respective numbers.

Fig 8.1 Folded Systems with Labels | Front View

Fig 8.2 Folded Systems with Labels | Inside View

Exercise 04 | Classical Grid Structure

During class, we did exercise on creating Van de Graaf digitally using InDesign by following Mr. Hijjaz instructions. 

Fig 9.1 Different Grid Structure

Fig 9.2 Van de Graaf with Sample Text #1

Fig 9.3 Van de Graaf with Sample Text #2

Exercise 05 | Determining Grids

During the tutorial in class, I tried making my own grids:

Fig 10.1 Determining Grids | PDF

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FEEDBACK

• Luna’s inner thoughts (form of dialogues); so it can be sound more believable.
• Include some planet illustrations.

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REFLECTION

Experience

Engaging in this experience proved to be incredibly fascinating for me. I've always been curious about the intricate process of book creation, and this opportunity provided valuable insight into the design and printing aspects involved. Even back in high school, I found myself pondering over the construction of the novels I owned, particularly the binding process, although I never delved deeply into understanding it. Thus, creating my own book has open up my mind about the publishing industry.

Observations

Throughout this task, I made numerous observations about the publishing industry. One aspect that stood out to me was the significance of grids in layout design. Initially unsure how to craft an engaging grid, I turned to various references, primarily utilizing Pinterest to explore the impressive works of other designers. This platform became an invaluable resource, guiding me towards creating more compelling layouts for my assignments.

Findings

Through these exercises, I uncovered a wealth of insights into the world of publishing. I discovered that creating visually appealing layouts often necessitates incorporating movement and form to captivate the viewer's eye. This realization underscored the importance of dynamic design elements in achieving aesthetic harmony within a layout.

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FURTHER READING

Reference: Laibamimtiaz. (2023, February 3). What is publication design? - Laibamimtiaz - Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/@laibamimtiaz640/what-is-publication-design-991239221989

Fig 11.1 What is Publication Design?

"Graphic designers that specialize in publications work with editors and publishers to create layouts with carefully selected typography and accompanying artwork, which includes photography, graphics and illustrations."

Fig 11.2 Examples of Cover Finish

Publication Design Tips:

• Fonts: Different fonts create different emotions in viewers. This idea is known as font psychology. Choose a clear, readable font for most of your text, like Arial, and use variations like Bold or Italic for headings. Also, pick an eye-catching font for emphasis. Avoid script fonts for main text.
• Images: Select images and graphics that match your project's theme. Images in magazine articles can shape readers' opinions, and captions can affect their responses. For printing, use images with at least 300 DPI (Online downloads, email attachments, and phone photos often don't meet this quality).
• White Space: White space is the area between and within design elements, including the space between letters. It can be any color, texture, pattern, or even a background image. When used correctly, white space is a valuable design tool.
• Colors: Choose a color palette for your project and stick to it to maintain a cohesive theme. Color schemes can highlight important parts of your design and evoke specific emotions. Designers use color to create harmony, balance, and consistency. For printing, design in CMYK instead of RGB, which is for digital projects. Set this up at the start to avoid redoing colors later.
• Navigation: Ensure your project is easy to navigate by including a table of contents, page numbers, and chapter or section titles. This helps your audience quickly find the information they need.