Agustin Wijaya (0327453)
Publishing II : Mass Communication
Exercises
Lectures
Week 3
1. Formats
Throughout the first lecture given, we were told the basics of books format - what factors do determine and influence a book to be published to history on how books were firstly made in several different countries, until the books we have generally seen today.
Outcomes of the lecture :
- Book was handwritten back then. It took 6 months ~ 1 year to finish.
- In order to publish a book, you get to have a comprehensive understanding of typography.
- Factors that influence and determine format a book would be - size of the book, type of paper, type of binding, content, target audience, also budget.
- Innovation comes behind the technology. Innovation, shadows technology.
Week 4
2. History of Print
This lecture informed us about printing throughout the whole history; the different methods used back then, the discovery to the invention of printing from different countries until printing existing today. Not only printing, there briefly stated about how paper was invented, the most important ingredients in the process of printing.
Outcome of the lecture :
- Printing was firstly done in China, by rubbing the stone to the paper surface.
- Paper was invented in China on 179-41 BCE.
- First printed book in stroll is in Chinese which was discovered in a cave at Dunhuang in 1899.
- Type foundry in Korea was considered a success as they established a foundry to cast moveable type in bronze during 14th century. A huge coincidence happened as well was that on the precisely decade Gutenberg was experimenting a moveable type far away in Europe.
- Gutenberg was another proved successful invention as well as it precedes of basic work of printing; arranging the individual letters, aligned and well spaced, in a form which steadily transferred the ink evenly to the paper.
Week 5
1. Typography Redux
This lecture was informed about deeper understanding of typography - its letters, punctuations, symbols to terms of doing typography that we shall be aware of. Outcome of the lecture :
- Again, it is important to have a good sense of typography.
- It is good to select a typeface which has small caps.
- Outline has to be thin, or else it will disfigure the font (1point size in maximum).
- Attaching the shadow doesn't really help and it is not so recommended to be applied as it will create distraction and hard to read.
- Determine your font size first before decide the leading point.
- Avoid widows and orphans.
- To determine for point size suitable for reading materials is by your hand length.
Week 6
2. Grids
This week's lecture was focused more on grids as the project now proceeds to do book layouts for our second project.
Outcome of the lecture :
- Grids could be vary, it doesn't have to come out in a consistent size.
- Grids shall be done in coherent and functional manner.
- You have to have an intellectual approach in design in order to learn publishing.
- One and the most effective tips in doing publishing is to put your position in the readers' shoes; see whether it's legible, readable, attractive and interesting.
- Understand the modular grid is important.
- There shall be 6~7 types of variations in order to design a book to make it interesting.
- In a book, content is considered the most important thing as it navigates the whole chapter.
Week 2
As part of our first project, we were tasked to write 3000 words.
We were tasked to have a stack of A3 papers for the whole class as each of us required to get 3 A3 papers to determine the book size that we wanted for the first project. Sizes were told to be bigger than A5 yet smaller than A4.
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| Figure 1. Size Exploration, L to R : 180x240mm, 160x220mm, 200x200mm. |
I chose a size of 160mm x 220mm.
After finalising the size, we were then tasked to stack it with 9 other papers, which then stapled becoming a staple binding book. Total of pages would be 34 pages including the cover.
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| Figure 2. Staple Binding 160x220mm (1) |
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| Figure 3. Staple Binding 160x220mm (2) |
Week 4
This week's exercise is about to construct a geometrical grid named Van Der Graaf grid on A3 paper.
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| Figure 4. Van De Graaf on A3 paper |
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| Figure 5. Van Der Graaf in A4 size |
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| Figure 6. Van Der Graaf in 160x220mm |
Week 5
This week's exercise was focused on identifying grids on certain layouts that we have printed.
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| Figure 7. Identifying Grids (1) |
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| Figure 8. Identifying Grids (2) |
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| Figure 9. Identifying Grids (3) |
Week 7
This exercise is to form a form and movement in pages. It is said to help us to form a layout.
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| Figure 10. Form and Movement |
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| Figure 11. Form and Movement (Animated) |
Week 10
This exercise is named signature folding, whereas the folding will guide us to know the placement of pages to form a book.
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| Figure 12. Signature Folding |
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| Figure 13. Signature Folding |
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| Figure 14. Signature Folding |
Feedback
Week 3
Specific Feedback
3000 words - Introduction and Reference shall be placed under content too, and indicate the pullquote after the chapter content.
Visual reference - shall think about the main objects, look up towards the reference and your drawing to compare whether it comes up to the same style/direction.
General Feedback
Illustrations shall be done smartly and effectively in this short amount of time.
Week 4
Specifc Feedback
Visuals - the illustration of the 'person' doesn't work - ONLY abstract shapes work much better. Also, do take note that illustration shall be done in 3 different intensities (minimal, medium & intense).
General Feedback
Submission is next week - work hard, work fast (!!!!!!)
Week 5
Specific Feedback
Exercises - Typefaces combinations are advisable to have serif and san serif fonts - try and show the suggested typefaces on friday.
Visuals - It's interesting, yet the 'heavy' intensity is not showing there. Do another 2~3 samples of full spread and show it on Friday.
Week 6
Specific Feedback
E-Portfolio : Assessment Criteria is not necessary to be displayed, remove it. Embed .pdf from Google Drive shall be double checked to ensure the accessibility - set the view to public. Also, settle the Embed size - It's too small. Pictures taken shall be taken note and taken in a more careful manner. Fix it ASAP.
Layout : Be consistent in terms of hanging length - start and continue the next page's body text on the same hanging length. Do be consistent in size of column and alignment too. Take note of paragraph spacing. The sequence of book is Half Title - Full Title - Imprint -Content. Subtext's point size shall be lower than the body text but with the same leading. Pull quote is meant to be played around - Make it bigger and adjust the colour with the illustrations you're having.
Friday Class : Right now all of the arrangements look the same. Try to experiment various arrangements, e.g one page with 2 columns, a double spread with 3, a page of one column, etc. You can also have a page with a subtext only. Kerning shall be done more nicely; it shall have a flow. Visuals could be moved around to fill up the empty space, beware of colour of the text when it's clashing to the visual. As you're done, now choose a neutral colour of your choice that will complement every visual you're having and attach a box with that colour in a page or two.
General Feedback
It's the stage now where things are expected to be done fast due to the more pressured upcoming project - Finish it faster so that we won't be SO STRESSED in the next project. Work hard, work fast - Finish it next week whereas possible. (!!!!!!!!)
Week 7
Specific Feedback
Book : Right now that you attach the neutral colour in form of boxes to your book, it looks so much better yet the layout looks rigid - improve it if you feel like improving it - otherwise, go print the black and white mockup. Start do the ebook until the end of the first chapter.
Black&White Mockup : Cover could be more impactful, it still looks empty. As you finish the book, you can fill up the typeset and print details already. TAKE NOTE of kerning & letterspacing, it has to have the "flow". Look up the small details before printing. As of the reference, just write the title will do. No need put the word "Summary" on the back cover because nobody does that. Be more critical.
Week 8
Specific Feedback
Colour Mockup : Cover is not bad but not good either, be more expressive with the type. The placement of the title looks rigid. Boxes of half or 3/4 doesnt work, take it off. You can put it beside the half title or full title, play with it. Some placement of visuals shall be taken note to enhance readability. References shall be added more to show that you do your research. Picture is better to come out with a better resolution but it's actually okay.
Week 9
Specific Feedback
Book : Author and Publication in the cover point size should be decreased. Overall layout is okay, it's just that the type doesn't portray the personality of your illustrations.
General Feedback
Paper weight shall be considered, dont make it so thin; this make it seems like it's part of the content instead of the cover.
Reflection
Experience
Happened to see the lists of exercises through the module outline, I was excited to learn these things. I feel like the exercises are the warm up to our module - as it happened once the class started. It helps a lot in a way that I experience new things that I never experienced and encountered - saddle binding process, Van De Graaf to the form and movement exercise. It was a pity that we couldn't manage to do all of the exercises due to limited of time and left behind projects we had, but overall the process has given me a new light towards this module. I've learned, gained things about this module.
Observations
I've observed that the exercise took most of the time in certain weeks which made us delayed our time to show our progressions as we were tasked to print it and reprint it if there is a mistake in it. Although, the class atmosphere was quite chill and relaxed when the exercise is conducted.
Findings
I found out that exercises shouldn't be taken lightly because it's perceived an exercise because it will guide us to a certain project we are in. I also found out that the exercises were not done accordingly, also some exercises were missed due to conflicting schedule and progressions for our projects, which is sad to realize. But to take it on a positive note, participating in these exercises has gained me a better understanding towards the module.
Book of the Week
Week 1
1. Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
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| Figure 15. Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton |
This week, I would like to focus myself on the usage of typography in publishing - thus a typography book. This book tells us about the usage of typography in many different types of mediums in overall graphic design - how to use them, to apply them. Through this book, I've learnt that :
- "Typefaces are essential resources for the graphic designer, just as glass, stone, steel, and other materials are employed by the architect."
- "From a simple indent (signalling the entrance to a new idea) to a highlighted link (announcing a jump to another location), typography helps readers navigate the flow of content."
- "That a speech supposedly alive can lend itself to spacing in its own writing is what relates to its own death." - Jacques Derrida, 1976
- "No book of typography would be complete without a discussion of the golden ratio, a ratio (relationship between two numbers) that has been used in Western art and architecture for more than two thousand years."
This book also discusses about the terms that we need to be aware of typography such as typefaces, kerning, leading, tracking, line spacing as well as the punctuations, dashes and spaces. They also display some examples and comparison about the usage of the terms to determine which looks better.
Week 2
2. Basics Design 01 : Formats by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris
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| Figure 16. Basics Design 01 : Formats by Gavin Ambrose & Paul Harris |
- "A books is a means of organising and presenting many pieces of information in one package. Whether compiling many 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."
- "Two main factors affect the final size of a page in a book : the size of the original sheet of paper, and the number of times the sheet of paper is folded before trimming."
- "A gatefold has extra panels that fold into the central spine of the publication with parallel folds so that they meet in the middle of the page. Gatefolds are commonly used in magazines for pull-out posters or in books for large-scale illustrations, photographs or graphics."
This book also gave out samples of published works as examples of what they're trying to portray. The following are the ones I find it interesting.
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| Figure 17. Fan Fold |
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| Figure 18. French Fold |
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| Figure 19. The cover has this spot gloss effect. so cool. |
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| Figure 20. The back cover too!! |
Week 3
3. Basics Design 06 : Print & Finish by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris
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| Figure 21. Basics Design 06 : Print & Finish by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris |
- "A substrates is any stock or material that receives a printed image, ranging from a standard sheet of paper to more elaborate and tactile papers and boards, and even extends to promotional items such as coffee mugs, t-shirts and, as we'll see, the human body."
- "Imposition is the arrangement of a printed publication's pages, in the sequence and position they will appear when printed; before being cut, folded and trimmed."
- "Tipping-in and tipping-on is a tip-in that refers to the attachment of a single page into a printed publication by wrapping it around the central fold of a section and gluing along the binding edge."
- "Printing is a collective term that refers to the various different techniques used to apply ink to a substrate or stock."
This book also went through the different types of printing to foldings as well as bindings. Some I find it interesting :
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| Figure 22. Posters with different kinds of printing |
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| Figure 23. Silk-Screen Printing |
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| Figure 24. Die-Cut |
Week 4
4. Basics Design 05 : Colours by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris
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| Figure 25. Basics Design 05 : Colours by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris |
- "Colour is a key element of graphic design, a tool that can be used to attract attention, steer and direct the viewer, and inform them about the type of reaction they should have towards the information presented."
- "Colours can have a variety of embedded meanings, which can be linked to different emotions and moods."
- "Primary colours come in two forms : additive and subtractive. Additive primaries are red, blue and green that in the form of light combine to form white. The subtractive primary colours or painting primaries are blue, red and yellow, which associated with reflected light. Tertiary colours are produced by combining a secondary colour with the primary colour that is not already present within it."
- "The colour wheel is a tool that can be used to select harmonious combinations of colour for a design."
- "Two of the most widely recognised and commonly used colour systems are RGB and CYMK; RGB is typically used for digital publishing and initial designs, and CYMK is used for printing publishing."
This book also went through techniques of colour usage such as gradients, overprinting, tints, colour layers, colour detailing, colour manipulations, gradients, colour hierarchy to its symbolism. Some pages I find it informative and interesting are :
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| Figure 26. The Colour Wheel |
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| Figure 27. The Usage of Colour Wheel |
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| Figure 28. Colour Combination Mood |
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| Figure 29. 'Blink Effect' |
Week 5
5. Basics Design 02 : Layout by Gavin Ambrose & Paul Harris
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| Figure 30. Basics Design 02 : Layout by Gavin Ambrose & Paul Harris |
- Layout is the arrangement of the elements of a design in relation to the space that they occupy and in accordance with an overall aesthetic scheme - called as management of form and space.
- Recto and verso refer to the pages of an open book; recto is the right-hand page and verso the left-hand page.
- The grid is a means of positioning and containing the elements of a design in order to facilitate and ease decision making.
- The golden section forms the basis for paper sizes and its principles can be used as a means of achieving balanced designs.
- A key function of layout is to let the elements, especially the image elements, perform the tasks that they have been selected for - Images add drama and emotion to a work, but how they communicate with the recipient depends upon how they are presented.
Some spreads I find it interesting are as follows :
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| Figure 31. The symmetrical grid. |
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| Figure 32. I find this binding interesting. hehe |
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| Figure 33. This too. |
6. Exploring Publication Design by Poppy Evans
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| Figure 34. Exploring Publication Design by Poppy Evans |
This book went through the past publications that have influenced recent trends in publication designs, principles and elements of publication design, usage of colours, typography, page layout to some imageries. With this book, I've learnt that :
- The letterpress, printing process invented by Gutenberg, is still used in the modern era and known as "relief", meaning type and imagery are on raised surface that receives ink.
- Phototypesetting revolutionised the publishing and typesetting industries by providing a fast, flexible, and inexpensive means of setting type.
- The goals of publications could be categorised in 4 ways, include: inform, persuade, sell, and entertain. Inform includes educate and informing instructions manuals in publications, persuading in a way that it convinces the reader to make a decision or act in a deliberate way, sell allows the reader to see merchandise, make informed choices, and then follow through with a purchase, when entertain includes novels, comic books that has a purpose to entertain the readers.
- Design principles for publications may include hierarchy, balance, proximity, rhythm, pattern, texture, scale, unity and variety, whereas design elements may include shapes, lines, colour, type, imagery, organising content, proportional systems and grids, as well as directing the eye movement.
Week 7
3. Commercial Print Design by Design Media Publishing Limited
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| Figure 35. Commercial Prints Design by Design Media Publishing Limited |
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| Figure 36. Its freestyled layout alongside the illustrations formed by the letters. |
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| Figure 37. It's just appealing in my view? It has variations of layouts. |
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| Figure 38. The different sizes of papers bound together in the book, interesting. |
4. Typography by Gavin Ambrose & Paul Harris
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| Figure 39. Typography by Gavin Ambrose & Paul Harris |
I've learned that :
- "Typographer Eric Gill noted that 'letters are things, they are not picture of things'. Individual letters, when arranged in a particular way, represent the sounds of a spoken language and visually express ideas in such a way that another person can understand them in the manner intended."
- "Italics have a calligraphic style and can sit compactly, in part due to their use of many ligatures."
- "Small caps provide a designer with a stuble means of highlighting a section of text without it standing out too much, or overpowering the surrounding body text."
- "The x-height is often used as a layout anchor to produce consistent positioning of images and text blocks."
- Functions and depth understanding of many terms of typography, e.g drop and standing capitals, numerals, leading, kerning, tracking, ligatures, etc.
Week 9
5. Graphic Design on the Desktop : Second Edition by Marcelle Lapow Toor
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| Figure 40. Graphic Design on the Desktop : Second Edition by Marcelle Lapow Toor |
I've learned that :
- "Good design is not dependent upon budget. It comes from the ability to be imaginative, to be consistent, to organize information in a creative and interesting way, and to make the pieces fit."
- Steps in design process includes : marketing research (identify the target audience), coming up with a concept, thumbnail sketches, rough sketches, comprehensives or "comps", and the mechanical.
- "Creating an effective and beautiful layout for a printed page involves making decisions and paying close attention to details."
- "A good layout will stop the viewer, shows a successful marriage of type and graphics, is well organized, communicates a message to the selected audience, has a clear concept."
- "Before designing a printed piece think of yourself as a reader and consumer of magazines, newsletters, newspapers, brochures, ads and flyers."
Picture Credits
Figure 1-40 Personal Documentation
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