Publishing Design Task 1 (Exercises)
24.8.2021 - 21.9.2021/ Week 1 - Week 5
Lee Sean / 0337001
Publishing Design / Bachelor of Design(Hons) in Creative Media
Task 1 Exercises
Instruction
Lecture
24-8-2021/ Week 1 MIB, Format
In this week, we were introduced to some of the historical formats of books. We were also briefed on the upcoming projects we will be working on for this module.
lecture - Formats
Q. In your view, what factors influence and determine the format of the book?
In my view, the main factors that influence and determine the format of a book is the content of the book. Which would affect the material, texture, layout and all to present the appropriate look and feel that would best fit the content.
31-8-2021/ Week 2 Book Mockup
This week is holiday, but we had a short 1 hour session to get some feedback from the 3k words and book mockup size feedback.
lecture - History of Print
2nd - 8th century AD
The six main classics of Confucianism are carved in stone. Confucian scholars who were eager to own these important texts simply lay sheets of paper on the engraved slabs and rub it with charcoal or graphite, then taking away a white letters on a black background.
AD 750 - 768
The world's earliest known printed document is a sutra printed on a simple sheet of paper in Korea in AD 750. This is closely followed in Japan as the empress in AD 768 commission a huge editing of a lucky charm or prayer from Buddhist Nara. It was kept in a bamboo box.
AD 868
The earliest known printed book is a scroll that is 16 feet long and a foot high, from the Tang dynasty. It was formed by sheets of paper glued together at the edges. The text is that of the Diamond Sutra, and the first sheet in the scroll has the world's first printed illustration, depicting an enthroned Buddha surrounded by holy attendants.
From the 11th century
Movable type or letters, which can be arranged in the correct order for a particular text and then reused, is a necessary step before printing. It was experimented in China, but the Chinese script has too many characters which made type-casting and type-setting become too complex, and the characters were made in clay which made it really fragile.
7-9-2021/ Week 3
During lecture, we started working on the Determining Grid exercise. We also had a consultation on our visuals work for our book design.
lecture - Typo Redux
Typography is extremely crucial in the world of graphic design. It is an art of arranging and composing text, a medium for expression and most importantly communication.
Character in a typeface includes:
- Small Caps
- Numerals
- Fractions
- Ligatures
- Punctuation
- Mathematical signs
- Symbols
- Non aligning figures
14-9-2021/ Week 4
In this week, we started working on the form and movement exercises and had a short consultation on our visuals work for the book design.
lecture - The Grid
"The use of grid as an ordering system is the expression of a certain mental attitude in as much as it shows that the designer conceives his work in terms that are constructive [...] This is the expression of a professional ethos: the designer's work should have clearly intelligible, objective, functional and aesthetic quality of mathematical thinking." (Brockmann, 2010)
Q. In your view, can we design without using grids?
In my view, it is possible to design without using grids. It all depends on the content and what look and feel are you trying to achieve. One of the legendary designer I looked up to is David Carson and in a lot of his work, he does not use any grid.
Just like how I don't believe that design should always be simple, even though I do love simple designs, I still believe that simple design is not always the right solution to everything. There are times where "ugly" or "complicated" design are the right solutions. In the end there are a lot of ways to solve a problem and not every time the rules that have been taught are the right solution to every problem.
21-9-2021/ Week 5
In this week, we finished the last exercise which is adding colors, images and text into the form and movement exercise. We were then briefed on the next task which is to work on the first chapter of our book.
lecture - Elements
Q. What are the elements that make up a book?
Elements that make up a book includes;
- Type
- color
- Image
The layout in the spreads should always be consistent but at the same time not predictable. The layout should have different variation throughout the book spread while at the same time maintaining consistency.
Task 1 Exercise
Exercise 1 - Text formatting
Exercise 2 - Mock-up making
Materials used for this exercise:
1. A4 (16 sheets) / A3 (8 sheets) Paper
2. Large rubber band / thread with needle
3. Adhesive Tape (masking, sellotape, scotch)
4. Steel Ruler (16" if you have)
5. Cutter
6. Pencil
The size have to be bigger than A5 but smaller than A4. To create our book, we have to come up with 3 different sizes and we will choose one in the end.
Fig 1
Sizes exploration
Sizes I have explored:
- 180 x 260mm
- 185 x 250mm
- 190 x 230mm (selected)
Mockups
Fig 2
Final book mockup
Fig 3
Rope binding
Fig 4
Flipping book gif
Fig 5
Final mockup in comparison to other sizes exploration
Exercise 3 - Van De Graff
For this exercise, we will be doing the Van De Graff exercises on papers and also in InDesign.
Fig 6
Van De Graff on paper
Fig 7
Digitized Vann De Graff
Fig 8
Vann De Graff with text
Fig 9
text without guidelines
Pdf Submission
Exercise 4 - Signature folding system (8+8=16)
For this exercise, we have to fold paper 3 times which would then become 8 pages on 8 side of the paper, which would result in 16 in total. We then have to number the pages.
Fig 6
Signature folding front
Fig 7
Untrimmed(left) and trimmed(right)
Fig 8
Side by side comparison
Fig 9
Final trimmed
Fig 10
Flipping trimmed book gif
Exercise 5 - Determining Grid
This exercise consist of 2 different part.
Part 1
Select a few spread from the same book and start analyzing how the designers uses the grid.
Part 2
Start by creating 3 different margin system for your book, choose one and then create 3 different grid system, then test it out with contents you have written for your book.
Pdf Submission
With Reference
Fig 11
Grid analysis
Without Reference Jpg
Fig 12
Grid analysis without reference jpg
Pdf Submission
Part 2 - Determining margin
Fig 13
Determining margin
Determining grid
Fig 14
Determining grid
Formatting text
Fig 15
Formatting text
Exercise 6 - Form and Movement
This exercise consist of a few different parts;
- Shapes
- Color
- Color + Images
- Color + Images + text
Shapes attempt 1
Fig 16
Shapes attempt 1
Shapes attempt 2
Fig 17
Shapes attempt 2
Shapes attempt 3
Fig 18
Shapes attempt 3
Final refinement
Fig 19
Final refinement
Gif
Fig 20
Chosen layout gif
Adding colors
Fig 21
Adding colors
Adding Image
Fig 22
Adding image
The way I uses the images were too repetitive, I didn't really present any different or interesting way of seeing that images. So I tried to do it again.
Adding Text
Fig 23
Adding text and second attempt on images
Final Submission
Fig 24
Final submission
FEEDBACK
Week 2
General Feedback
- The introduction in your 3k words is too short, you should treat it as its own section as well
Specific Feedback
- The overall typography visuals you have developed doesn't seem to be consistent. Try to sticker to one style and make them consistent
- The introduction in your 3k words is too short
Week 3
General Feedback
- Make sure you watch the lecture and take notes
- Always question everything, question why are we doing the exercise and assignments. Otherwise you will not learn anything.
Specific Feedback
- It's on the right direction but you didn't really progress much from last week so you really have to step it up.
- Experiment more, try more different things
- Make sure you have visual reference before you start designing
- Try to keep the mood consistent but at the same time present something different
Week 4
General Feedback
- When trying to make the movement flow smoothly and not too obvious at the same time. Try to imagine how the shape move, then skip a step when presenting the movement so it is not too obvious.
- Make sure you align the shapes and text properly so it looks more organize.
Specific Feedback
- The new direction that you have went for when doing the visuals is way better than the previous typography work you have done.
- The form and movement exercise you have done doesn't really transition smoothly and sometimes doesn't relate as well.
Week 5
General Feedback
- Make sure you finish working on the visuals this week so you can start the next task soon
Specific Feedback
- The way you uses the images are still very repetitive, try to find ways to present them in a different, interesting ways.
REFLECTION
Experience
24/8/2021
We had a small brief on the upcoming exercises/ Projects, we also learned about some of the historic format of books.31/8/2021
It's a holiday but we had a small 1 hour consultation
7/9/2021
We started the next few exercises and also had a consultation on our project 2 visuals
14/9/2021
I was struggling a lot with the creating visuals project, it's just not working out so while working on this, I went on and developed a whole new art design style as a backup just in case if I have to give up on this typography work
21/9/2021
We finished the last exercises which is the form and movement exercise, and also were briefed on the next task.
Observation
24/8/2021
I was quite worried with the book design because it's not something that I am good at.
31/8/2021
I think I'm doing fine on the project so I'm not that worried
I think I'm doing fine on the project so I'm not that worried
7/9/2021
I wasn't progressing as fast as I wanted to, I'm still stuck on the exact same things.
I wasn't progressing as fast as I wanted to, I'm still stuck on the exact same things.
14/9/2021
Through the typography visuals I have done, I realized that there's actually a lot of very interesting things happening when I zoom in to look at the little textures. I feel like I can further expand from there.
21/9/2021
I feel like I'm not doing well for the exercises. I'm starting to feel worried about the upcoming task, whether if I'm able to do it well or not.
Finding
24/8/2021
I was very happy with all the exercises and projects. These are the skillsets that I am really lacking so I was very excited to learn them and improve more.
31/8/2021
I'm on the right track now so I'm not very worried.
I'm on the right track now so I'm not very worried.
7/9/2021
Honestly I was quite disappointed with myself, I'm not really progressing much so I really have to step it up.
Honestly I was quite disappointed with myself, I'm not really progressing much so I really have to step it up.
14/9/2021
The new design direction that I have went for is way better comparing to the one I had previously. So I'm happy that I finally have a new direction that would work better.
21/9/2021
I need to take some time to practice more, I'm still struggling quite a lot of things.
Further Reading
A Type Primer - John Kane
The book, A type Primer introduces and analyzes some of the basic principles as well as applications of type. The book first started out by introducing basics such as the specific terms to describe letterforms, fonts. Then proceed to move on to the timeline and history of typography. There are a lot of very helpful technical knowledge that has been shared in the book, overall it is a very technical and practical book.
In the book, it mentioned "Paul Rand once wrote: "Typography is an art, Good typography is art," and therein lies the problem for both teacher and student. Craft can be taught, Art lies within the individual." Which in a way I kind of agree, to me art and design is quite different because art can be express in any shape and form however you want. But in typography it requires a ton of technical skills behind it. A lot of times I struggled to find that balance between artistic design while maintaining technical functions in design.
In the end of the book, instead of summing up the entire book, he gave 3 recommendations and suggestions to young designers that I think is very helpful for me.
1. Slow down
The book said that "how we get from idea to final, is a series of considered responses to direct observation." Slowing down and taking your time to observe your work, printing out your work as you are going through the process. Give yourself time to think about what you're doing, and how to proceed from there.
2. Be wary of "creativity"
"Inspiration is for amateurs."(Chuck Close) Professionals understand the principles and the process behind it and mastered the craft. Young designers, especially me sometimes waste a lot of time looking and waiting for inspiration, thinking that I just need some more time to wait for the inspiration to come to me. Professionals just get to work, they understand that real insight, real innovation come only from deliberate process.
3. Keep your eyes open
Read more books or articles to learn about what other people have to say and show about typography. Compare what you do with what other people do while at the same time learn to articulate the difference. Take every opportunity to learn, study, analyze typography. Pay more attention to your surrounding. Type is everywhere, and there is so many things you can learn about if you just observe.
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