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Publishing Design: Task 1

22nd April - 11 June 2024 / Week 1 - 8
Alana Sofia Othman / 0353451 / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Publishing Design
Task 1
JUMPLINKS
LECTURES
Lecture Video 1: Formats
Publications
- Books, magazines, newspapers, etc.
- Books are the oldest format of publishing
- Books can document and communicate ideas, knowledge, history and so on
- Designing a publication requires comprehensive understanding of typography, space, detail and inDesign (because really, why would you design a publication anywhere else?)

Book format
Deciding the book format
It can depend on:
- The target audience
    - For younger children, it needs to be small enough for them to hold
    - Younger children also need a hardcover to protect it from their messiness
    - Slightly older children, maybe a soft cover is okay as they are able to care for it
- The type of content
    - If the content consists of diagrams, visuals, subtexts, so on, it would need to be slightly bigger
    - The amount of content
    - If it is a very thick book with alot of content and pages, it needs to be thin and cheap paper

Historical formats
Mesopotamian civilization (Iran, Iraq)
- Denise Besserat (199) contends the early method of record keeping began from counting technology
- 3000 BC, writing system on clay tablets became more prominent and followed a grid system

Indus Valley civilization (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan)
- A complex writing system with cuneiform
- They used soft clay tablets and sharp pointed tools to write
- In 2600 - 1500 BC, they wrote about their gov, religion and trade
- In 1000 BCE, they would scratch a manuscript onto a palm leaf using a sharp tool and rub on soot to cover the letters

Ancient Egyptian civilization (Egypt)
- Egyptian scribes were the only ones who could read and write Hieroglyphics
- They wrote on tomb walls & on papyrus paper (thick paper made from pith of papyrus plant)
- Hieratic type came as it was faster to read and write 
- Most of papyrus documents came from Doctors documenting their ways

Han Chinese civilization (Chinese)
- Written in vertical columns on a thin strip of bamboo
- To create a longer document, two lines of thread linked the bamboo side by side
- Modern Chinese character for books evolve from a pictogram of the bamboo strips stitched together
- Earliest known printed book is from the T'ang dynasty, discovered in a cave at Dunhuang in 1899
- It uses paper in a scroll format and is a precisely dated document
- In the 10th - 11th century, they printed from wood blocks
- Large amount of Buddhist, Daoist works and Confucian classics are published for scholar officials
- Each character was carved out in reverse on the block, before movable type was invented by the Chinese and made successful in Korea

European civilization (Europe: Turkey & beyond)
- Parchment, made from animal hide, was invented in Turkey in 197 - 159 BC and spread to Europe
- Around 50 AD, parchment books was invented as scrolls was not possible with leather due to thickness, heavyweight and tiresome process of making it
- Paper moved from China to Persia-Arab empires, to Turkey/Ottoman empire and then Europe
- Paper becomes widely available in 1400 - 1500 CE
- Ingredient to make paper changes in 1860s as Boston Weekly Journal used wood pulp to print
- Folding format began with wooden blocks and thread to stitch together
- Later continued with paper that was sewn, bound and glued together

Lecture Video 2: History of Print
2nd - 8th Century AD
- In AD 175, the Emperor of China commands 6 main classics of Confucianism carved in stone
- Confucian scholars lay sheets of paper on engraved slabs and rub on carcoal/graphite, getting white letters on a black background
- Brass rubbing are one of the firsts of large scale printing

Korea & Japan: AD 750 - 768
- Invention of printing is an achievement of Buddhists in East Asia with Korea in the lead
- World's earliest print is a Dharani sutra printed on a single sheet of paper in Korea AD 750
- Japan was next in line. In AD 768, in devoutly Buddhist Nara, the empress commissions a huge edition of a lucky charm or prayer
- A million of these scrolls were printed and came with their own packaging, a stupa
- In 764, the empress commissioned small wooden pagodas that contained small woodblock scrolls of Buddhist text, the earliest examples of woodblock printing

First Printed Book: AD 868
- Earliest known printed book is from the T'ang dynasty, discovered in a cave at Dunhuang in 1899
- The scroll is 16 feet long and a foot high, formed of paper sheets glued together
- It contains the world's first printed illustration, an enthroned Buddha surrounded by holy attendants

Chinese Publishing: 10th - 11th Century
- Wood block printing, as the Diamond Sutra, is a tedious process
- Carving the characters in reverse on wood block is laboursome but unavoidable until movable type
- Confucian classics are published for the use of scholar officials, with huge numbers of Buddhist & Daoist works (5k+- scrolls each) and complete Standard Histories dating back to Sima Qian

Movable Type: From the 11th Century
- Seperate ready made characters/letters which can be arranged in any order for using and reused
- Pioneered in China but was achieved in Korea
- Did not work so well in China due to the large number of Chinese script characters, making type casting & type setting too complex
- Chinese printers would also cast the characters in clay and fire them as pottery, which was too fragile

Type Foundry in Korea: c.1380
- Late 14th century, the Koreans establish a foundry to cast movable type in bronze, making it stronger for repeated printing, dismantling and resetting for new text, unlike the Chinese pottery versions
- Korea was still using Chinese script and faced similar issues of too many characters, they solved it in 1443 by inventing their own national alphabets, known as han'gul
- This is the same decade where Gutenberg experimented with movable type, which had an advantage with phoenetic alphabets for more than 2000 years

Saints and Playing Cards: AD c.1400
- c.1400, over 6 centuries after the east, printing technique from wood blocks was introuced to Europe
- Images are printed by simple method of laying a piece of paper on a carved inked block and rubbing its back to transfer ink
- Main market is holy images to sell to pilgrims and playing cards
- In the 15th century, technical advances are made in Germany that transforms printing from a cottage industry to a cornerstone of western civilization

Gutenberg & Western Printing: AD 1439 - 1457
- Gutenberg & printing was first mentioned in Strasbourg in 1439 when he was sued by 2 of his business partners
- Although nothing from this period survives, court witnesses descibed his printing as movable type
- The next association is when he is in Mainz, borrowing 800 guilders in 1450 from Johann Fust with his printing equipment as security
- Gutenberg's  printing press was capable of applying a rapid but steady downward pressure
- He was also originally a goldsmith, which gave him an extra skill with metal that enabled him to master the complex stages of manufacturing individual pieces of type
- Master copies of each letter was made, devising moulds in which multiple versions can be cast and developed into a stuitable alloy to cast them
- No date appears in the 42 line Gutenberg bible, printed on six presses simultaneously in mid-1450s
- One copy is was completed by 24 Aug 1456 with the initial letters coloured red by hand
- The first dated book, Mainz Psalter, was in 1457 from the same presses, achieving outstanding colour printing in its 2 colour initial letters

The Rest Is History
- Many inventions to improve on the printing press and its quality happened over the years
- Industrial revolution brought in precision engineering and benefited the printing press
- Desktop revolution brought on desktop publishing
- Internet publishing brought on instant publishing

World's Largest Book
- Stands upright and set in stone in Kuthodaw pagoda at the foot of Mandalay hill, Myanmar
- Each stone tablet has its own roof and precious gem on top in a small stupa
- Total of 729 stupas as they are arranged around a central golden pagoda

Lecture Video 3: Typo Redux
Typography
One of the most important areas in Graphic design. It is the art of arranging & composing text and a medium for expression & communication

Characters In A Typeface
- Small Caps
- Numerals
- Fractions
- Ligatures
- Punctuations
- Mathematical signs
- Symbols
- Non aligning figures

Legibility
There are general guidelines to ensure legibility of text. Bending the rules is done only when one is familiar with the rules and when content allows more expressive interpretation. Choosing typefaces that are open and well proportioned allows easier flow of reading:
- Classical serif: Garamond, Bodoni, Bembo, Minion Pro, Baskerville, Caslon, etc.
- Sans serif : Franklin Gothic, Frutiger, Univers, Futura, Gill Sans, Helvetica, etc.- 

General Guides
- Legibility required harmony between type size, line length and spaces between lines of type (line spacing or leading) as it forms balance and becomes easy on the eyes
- A column of type is usually 50-65 characters across
- Type that is too small will cram too many letters in a line and be hard to read
- Font size determines line length, which determines line spacing
- Determining leading/line spacing factors in:
    - Font: some fonts require more line spacing than others to keep ascender and descender touching
    - Line length: longer requires more leading for easier reading
    - Size: larger pt size means more leading (mostly for body copy as headlines can have tight leading)
- Overly long or short lines of type also are tiresome/unpleasant to read and should not be done

Guides for Character,Word Space
Sometimes extra & manual care is needed to texts:
- When larger pt size kerning is uneven
- Adjust tracking to fix orphans & widows at the end of a paragraph
- Italics/oblique type should be used with prudence or it will impede legibility
- Using all caps becomes hard to read as it lacks visual variety or shapes, ascenders, descendars, etc

Guides for Alignment, Spacing & Indent
- Flush left needs to pay attention to ragging, should not be smooth but not too ragged
- Flush right makes it hard to find the next line and is not suitable for large amounts of text
- Centered give a formal appearance and is ok when used minimally but not for large amounts of text
- Justified can be ok if the kernings are even but if not its a big no
- Paragraph spacing is an automatic space when starting a new paragraph instead of double Enter key
- Paragraph spacing should be the same amount of the leading space
- Indentations are usually the beginning of a paragraph only if there is no paragraph spacing
- Indents can also be used for adding design element to the page
- Indents should be same size as your pt size and only used with justified

Guides for Special Styles & Special Formatting
- Underlining should be below the descender line and not touch the characters as it hinders readibility
- Small Caps are good for subheads or first line of a paragraph
- All Caps are good for short headlines or subheads and never for long sentences or emphasis
- Special purpose style are formatting styles within softwares for making footnotes, references, math formulas and strikethroughs
- Text scaling is disproportionate and should not be done
- Outline & shadow should not be done. If outline wants to be done it should not exceed 1pt stroke
- Hypens are used to divide words or numbers or break words from one line to another
- Headlines and subheads should never be hyphenated
- En dash, usually the width of the letter 'N', is used for seperate ranges of items such as dates, quantities, and time. It subs as the word 'to' and 'through'
- Em dash, usually the width of the letter 'M', is a sub for the comma to set off a section of the sentence that requires special emphasis
- Em dash can also be used for preceding the attribution of a quote
- When headlines & subheads need to be broken for readibility, instead of pressing 'Enter' key, 'Shift' + 'Enter' allows a visually better line break(follows leading) instead of a paragraph space.
- Drop caps are used to start new chapters and special sections. It should not exceed 2/3 lines
- Drop caps allow alterations to font, style, colour of the character through the use of character style
- Drop caps should be avoided unless its truly being decorated as old school style
- There are different types of quotes for different usages
    - quote single & double
    - hungarumlaut & acute: used for feet & inches
- Sidebars leading must be the same as body text as cross alignment allows pleasent reading rhytm

Lecture Video 4: The Grid
Purpose of Grids
Arranges texts, photographs, diagrams, and so on in a coherent and functional manner. It creates a sense of compact planning and clarity, which in tuen allows smooth reading and easy understanding. This is important to engage readers and allow them to retain and remember the information read.

A good design is one that works subtlety in the background, allowing the work on the pages to do the talking clearly, logically and elegantly. The user experience should be seamless and pleasantly suprising upon each page turn for more engagement, retention and understanding.

Raster System
- Most practical for arranging a page, espcially for books, and creating order
- Divides a 2d plane or 3d space into smaller fields or compartments. It can be equal or unequal sizes
- Margin area of a page can make or break the design
- Hanglines exist to mark where text starts when there is a (sub)header above it
- Some place hanglines at the top of the grid but they can also be within the grid to mark where body text starts after the headline
- Hanglines can also be used within margin area to mark where headlines should start

Grid System
- Modular in nature with column and rows
- Grids are flexibile & allow creativity of different usages, allowing variation to keep readers interest
- A grid system with 4 columns can also be used as 2 columns, allowing sub text to be in 4 columns while body text as 2 columns

Lecture Video 5: Elements
Elements
Intro
- Textual nature: Type, graphics/image, colours
- Tactile nature: Format, size, paper type, binding style
- Ebooks: Animation, sound, interactivity (buttons, hover popups)

Variation
- Using type, image and colour together should be consistent but not repetitive and predictable
- Creating variation within layouts while keeping consistency across the book with usage of grids
- Certain fixed areas would be: hangline, typeface, colour, image style, etc. while varying combinations
- Not every spread needs to be different, just a rotation of formulas to keep interest
- The grid is used in modular fashion to allow easy changes later in the future if wanted
- Visuals should be unique (either intricate, aggresive, smoothe, or so on) & strong to allow balance with text & image
INSTRUCTIONS
Task 1: Exercises
Exercise 1: Text Formatting
Attachment 1 Final Story Content, Week 4 (14 May 2024)

Exercise 2: Mock-Up Making
Figure 1: Book Size Mockups (Week 4, 14 May - 21 May 2024)
Following the tutorial video from Mr Vinod, I created 3 different possible book sizes. I chose to go with mockup B for my book size because I like that it somewhat feels and looks square but is not actually a perfect square, which is somewhat in relation to my book content.

Exercise 3: Signature Folding Systems (8+8=16)
Figure 2: Book Folding Signature System (Week 5, 21 May 2024)
In class, we folded a single sheet of A2 paper into A5 size. This gives us a book signature of 16 pages. This is a printing technique used during offset printing that allows easy binding, saving time & cost. Once folded, we staple to bind it together as a signature and cut along the edges, allowing us to make the book pages flipable.

Exercise 4: Classical Grid Structure
Figure 3: My Classical Grid Structure (Week 5, 21 May 2024)
In AI, we recreated the Van De Graaf canon and created 3 different possible layout columns that form a classical grid structure.

Exercise 5: Determining Grids
Attachment 2 Grid System (Week 5, 21 May 2024)
Using AI, we used the same grid lines as previously to create layouts and columns. 3 different sets of layout systems were created with different grid columns. The page for the 3rd layout system was extended to be wider in width due to 3 grids needing more space.

Exercise 6: Form & Movement Exercises
Attachment 3 Form & Movement B&W (Week 7, 4 June 2024)
Attachment 4 Form & Movement Colour (Week 7, 4 June 2024)
Attachment 5 Form & Movement Filled (Week 7, 4 June 2024)
This exercise helps us in beginning to tackle how to create consistent variation. Having a visual direction or a reference allows better flow to this exercise. Once layouts are formed, making the decisions of placements become seamless. 
FEEDBACK
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REFLECTION
Experience
As always, Mr Vinod's lectures were interesting and educating. I appreciate his concise and more asian focused lectures. The exercises done were also interesting and informative. The Form & Movement exercise was particularly my favourite as it was an interesting way to break down layout formations that is easy to understand and a fun way for us to learn on how to play with layouts.  

Observations
Narrative writting has always been and will always be my kryptonite, it is something I have learnt to accept. Through these exercises, I realised that I enjoy the experimental hands on aspect of publishing. The parts of mockup making and actually having fun with creating publishing layouts were the more enjoyable activities for me. These were areas where I also felt more confident working on.

Findings
I learnt a lot through Mr Vinod's lectures about publications. Two topics that stood out to me were the topics on history of movable type and the grid systems & how to use them to your advantage instead of having them constrain you too much. However, I would have enjoyed a more in depth lecture on types of printing, especially risograph printing, eventhough it is not a very common printing method or entirely relevant, it would be fun & extra information. 
FURTHER READING
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