PUBLISHING II : EXERCISES

31/08/18 - 28/09/18 (Week 1 - Week )
Ashila Putri Sandi (0332938)
Publishing 2: Mass Communication
Exercises

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LECTURE

Lecture 1&2:

History of Prints

2nd -8th Century AD

• The emperor of China commands, in AD 175 the 6 main classics of Confucianism carved in stone
• Confucian scholars eager to own these important texts simply lay sheets of paper on the engraved slabs and rub all over it with charcoal or graphite taking away a text in white letters on a black ground

Korea and Japan: AD 750-768

• The invention of printing is a striking achievement of Buddhists in East Asia.
• Korea takes the lead, the world's earliest known printed document is a sutra printed on a paper (Korea AD 750)
• Followed in Japan by a bold experiment in mass circulation

The First Printed Book

• The first printed book is Chinese from the end of the T'ang Dynasty
• Discovered in a cave at Dunhuang in 1899 (scroll, 16 feet long and a foot high) 
• The name of the book is Diamond Sutra

Chinese Publishing (10th-11th Century)

• Printing from wood blocks - only can be used once
• The carving of so many characters in reverse on wood blocks is an enormous investment of labor, but the task is unavoidable until the introduction of movable type.

Movable type (11th Century)

• A necessary step before printing can become an effective medium for disseminating information
• The concept is experimented with in China as early as the 11th century

Type foundry in Korea c 1380

• Established a foundry to cast movable type in bronze
• Problem: an unwieldy number of characters

Saints and playing Cards: AD c 1400

• The invention in the east, the technique of printing from wood blocks is introduced in Europe
• Playing cards are another early part of the western trade
• Gutenberg's great achievement in the story of printing has several components: his development of the printing press and capable of applying a rapid but steady downward pressure.

Gutenberg & Western Printing: AD 1439-1457

• The name of Gutenberg first appears, in connection with printing, in a law case in Strasbourg 1439
• He's being sued by two of his business partners

Formats

The book is a medium to document and transmit ideas, knowledge, records, history, and so on. Designing a book requires us to have a comprehensive understanding of typography, a good sense of space, and eye for details, and a good understanding of publishing software. There are content, targeted audience, size, binding, material and many other aspects that could be considered influenced and determine the format of a book.

"Innovation almost always shadows technology"

What does this mean? It means that there always a potential to use the new innovation, new technology makes people curious and want to find ways to innovate upon new things. For example, nowadays we live in the digital technology where pretty much everything can be done on a desktop while ages ago people needed a typesetter. However, the development process of technology were expensive, drown out, and complex. Thus, it is important for us to make our own mark in every work field or creative class so people would know our work innovation whether it's good or not. Try to make something new and fresh, well it is quite hard because we still need a foundation and inspiration to actually create something, especially as a designer.

There are a lot of different formats used across time in different civilizations. 

Iran-Iraq - Mesopotamia 

• Pictographic writing on clay tablets
• The progression from simple and complex
• Used a stick to draw or write

India - Pakistan - Afghanistan Indus Valley River Civilizations

• Used soft clay tablet
• Cuneiform (earliest system of writing)

Palm Leaves Manuscript (Common Era)

• Located in Egypt, the oldest civilizations
• The scribes were the only people in ancient Egypt that could read and write Hieroglyphics
• Paper -> Papyrus-> thick paper from the pith of the papyrus plant

China - Han China

• Chinese characters in the early period are written in vertical columns, so a thin strip of bamboo is ideal for a single column. 
• They used scroll format for their binding. 
• The first printed book (Diamond Sutra 868 CE) was discovered in a cave at Dunhuang 1899

Turkey & The West

• Parchment was first invented in Turkey, 197-159 BC which later spread to Europe
• Made from animal hide
• Around 50 AD, Europeans started making parchment book

Lecture 3: Typo Redux

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. 

Characters in Typeface

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

Fig 1.1 Characters in a Typeface
source: Behance.net 

Fig 1.2 Weight in Typeface

Legibility 

Open and well proportioned

The first step in making type legible is to choose text typefaces that are open and well proportioned for example classical serif typefaces such as Garamond, Bodoni, Bembo, Minion Pro, Baskerville, and so on. For the sans serif there are Gill Sans, Helvetica, Franklin Gothic, Myriad Pro, and more.

Special Styles
With computer, we are able to do many things when we are typesetting (formatting text). With this came abuse, as many people weren't aware of the typographic conventions, violated them at expense of the reader. The following are some of the considerations to take on board when formatting text for legibility:

Underline: The underline should be lowered so that they do not touch the characters as this impedes readability. There are two types of underlines, one that effects entire sentences, and one that effects only the words.

Small Caps & All Caps: Small Capitals are good for subheads or for the first line of a paragraph. Text set in All Caps should be used in short headlines or subheads. All caps should never be used for long sentences and for emphasis.

Special-Purpose Style: Many formatting style exist within softwares for making footnotes, references, etc. These tend to be embedded or nested within the tools sections and a lay user may not be aware of its functions.

Text Scaling: Some program allows for the user to create a pseudo-condense or pseudo-extended font by horizontally or vertically squeezing or distorted a font. This distorts the original design of the font.

Outline & Shadow: Another style that tends to be abused a lot is the outline or shadow styles. This happens when deluded individuals through a flick of a mouse, and the aid of a software, think they can do magical things. Its takes many years of practice and many more years of experience before one can format text beautifully and effectively. Please avoid outline and shadow as far as possible.

Type size, Line Length & Line Spacing
Text that flow naturally when read, is achieved when a harmonious relationship exists between type size, line length, and spaces between lines of type (line spacing or leading)

Even well-designed typefaces suffer from legibility impairment when just one of these aspects is out of balance.

A column of type usually is about 50 characters across, and no more than 65 characters. Type that is too small will “cram” too many letters per line and make the copy hard to read. Remember, type that is hard to read may not be read at all.

Font size, determines line length, which in turn determines line spacing. The following below showcases the appropriate line length for the font size. The number of characters per line is at 50. This as you now know is the suggested number of characters a column of text should have.

Leading, or line spacing, refers to the amount of space between lines of type. As with type size, there are no set rules for how much line spacing to use; however, there are some major factors to consider: 

     

•The font used—some fonts require more line spacing than others to keep their ascenders and descenders from touching.      

•The line length—longer lines require more leading for easier reading.      

•The type size—the larger the type size, the more line spacing is required. This rule mostly refers to body copy; headlines, which are normally set larger, may actually be set with tighter line spacing.

Many times, simply typing in the text and formatting the font, size, and line spacing is enough. However, depending on the program used, extra attention is needed. Larger type sizes need adjustments to the space between characters; and paragraphs need to be adjusted to eliminate “widows” and “orphans.”

Character & Word Space

Kerning: Inter-character spacing, known as kerning, creates a more pleasing look to the text. Most word processors do not allow kerning adjustments and most page-layout programs apply kerning auto-matically; however, certain letter combinations may require manual adjustments. 

Tracking: The adjustment of word spacing is called Tracking. It is similar to kerning but refers to the adjustment of a selection of characters, words, and spaces. Its main purpose is to make type fit a required space without altering the type size or line spacing.

Word spacing, factors that determine correct word spacing includes typeface which is chosen, the size and weight of the type.

Alignment

Text can be aligned in 5 different ways:

Flush left, Ragged right:

Flush right, ragged left

Centered

Justified (left, centre & right) 

Flush left, ragged right produces very even letter and word spacing, and because lines of type terminate at different points, the reader is able to easily locate each new line. This is perhaps the most legible means of aligning text.

Flush right, ragged left alignments worked against the reader by making it difficult to find each new line. This method is suitable for small amounts of text, but is not recommended for large amounts.

Centered alignments give the text a very formal appearance and are fine when used minimally. But setting large amounts of text in this way should be avoided.

Justified text can be very readable if the designer ensures spacing between words are consistent, and that akward gaps “rivers” do not interrupt the flow of the text.

Paragraph Spacing
Paragraph Spacing is an automatic space between each paragraph that is applied when starting a new paragraph; once set, it can apply space either above the paragraph or below it. Paragraph spacing is a more elegant way to space out paragraphs than simply double spacing returns. 

Paragraph Indent
The most common indent is the small indent at the beginning of each paragraph, but indents have many more uses, including adding an element of design to the page. 

First-line paragraph indents only should be used if there is no paragraph space because the indents and the paragraph space exist to inform the reader when a paragraph stops and a new one begins. Using both the indent and paragraph space is overkill. 

The standard amount of indent is equal to the type size. For example, if the type size is 12 points, the indent should be 12 points. (Most programs allow the user to enter sizes in points if typed as “p12” or “12 pt”.) The amount of the first-line indent can be extended for design purposes.

Special Formatting
Hyphens are usually used only to divide words or numbers, but they also are used to break words from one line to the next. Headlines and subheads should never be hyphenated at a line ending.

Dashes come in two varieties: the en-dash and the em-dash. En-dashes are slightly longer than hyphens (usually, the width of the letter “N”), and are used to separate ranges of items, such as dates, quantities, and time. As a rule, if you can substitute the word “to” or “through”

En-dashes are slightly longer than hyphens (usually, the width of the letter “N”), and are used to separate ranges of items, such as dates, quantities, and time. As a rule, if you can substitute the word “to” or “through” in place of the dash, then the dash is used correctly. 

The em-dash is used in place of a comma to set off a section of the sentence that requires special emphasis. However, it does have other uses, such as preceding the attribution of a quote. Typically, em-dashes are the width of the letter “M”.

Drop caps are used to start off new chapters and special sections of a report. You can create the cap, then alter the font, the style, and the color of the character through the use of a Character style. Many programs have settings to automatically create the drop caps; if the program does not have automatic settings, drop caps should be avoided. 

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INSTRUCTION 

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IN-CLASS EXERCISES

Week 2&3

The 3000 Words



1. Determining Book Sizes (Formatting Exploration)

We were tasked to explore any sizes for our book. The size must be bigger than A5 and smaller than A4. I tried to make 4 sizes, and the chosen one was 150mm x 220mm.

Fig 2.1 Above are different size variations that I came up with

Fig 2.2 I cut the A3 paper to get a better look and feel

The sizes are (From left 181x260mm, 160x240mm, 150x220mm, 170x190mm).
2. Staple Binding the Selected Size

Fig 2.3 I chose the particular size which was 150x220mm and above is the mock-up staple binding book

Fig 2.4 Mock-up Staple Book from the top

Fig 2.5 Mock-up Staple Binding Book from the side

Fig 2.6 The look of the mock-up from the top

3. Folding Exercise to Determine The Page Number Sequence

Fig 2.7 Folded Paper to Determine the Page Number

Fig2.8 The Inside Look of the folded paper

4. Van De Graaf Canon Margin 

Fig 2.9 Emplementation of Van De Graaf Margin in A3-sized-paper

 On this attempt, I drew a wrong angle for some lines thus, the margin on the left side of the paper and the right were not the same.

Fig 2.10 Attempt on doing the Margin digitally in InDesign

Fig 2.11 The Printed one after I made the margin on InDesign

Week 4

Specimen Sheet (Formatting Text, determine typeface)

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FEEDBACK

Week 2

Specific Feedback: For the 3000 words format, Mr Vinod told me to complete the format, for example, add the imprinting part and the barcode. Then, he told me to continue writing for the content. 

General Feedback: Complete the format according to the example that has been given. For the introduction, you can have either pull quote or subtext, but chapters we need to put both subtext and pull quote. 

Week 3

Specific Feedback: I sent Mr Vinod my references and told Mr Vinod that I chose to go with Illustration than photography. However, Mr Vinod told me that most of the classmates would use illustration for their work. Thus, while illustrating I would try to look through my archives and take some new photos. Moreover, Mr Vinod said that my references seemed interesting and he reminded me that the images only need to be a symbolic representation. So this allows me to explore all kinds of visual objects.

Week 4 

Specific Feedback: The illustrations were good. Continue to finish all the 16 visuals.

Week 5

Specific Feedback: Try to expand more of human being illustration for the visuals. Continue exploring for the visuals. So far, Mr Vinod said they looked nice. Start working on the typesetting for the book using the grid has have been done for the exercise. 

General Feedback: Make sure to update the e-portfolio blog weekly. Search for layout references, type specimen sheet, grid (3 options). Apply them to the first page - first chapter.

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REFLECTION

Experience

These exercises were not easy to do. However, I needed to be careful when measuring things and cutting paper because I was not that skilled when it comes to something that required fine motor skills. Also, I had some trouble when implementing the Van de Graaf grid into digital version thus I needed to ask for help and finished my task last.  For the 3000 words, it was quite challenging because I have never written a story about myself before. I had to think forward because although the 3000 would not be read and checked, I felt like I needed to make a story that I could make an illustration of it. Overall I enjoyed all the various exercises such as creating the Van de Graaf canon deepened my understanding of publishing even more. Not only creating digitally, it was nice and also challenging to have a hands=on experience of drawing grids, folding, and staple binding the mock-up although I made several mistakes.

Observation

I observed that it was important for us to maintain our concentration when measuring and cutting our paper. Also, we needed to be careful but at the same time, we needed to work fast, clean, and neat. Trying out different typefaces and combining them gave me the inspiration to choose what typeface I wanted to use, but still, I had some difficulty choosing them. I had to apply it to the actual text that I had to test it out and see the actual look. Moreover, I observed that the grid was really important in the publishing field especially when we wanted to make a book.

Findings

I found out that there are so many things that I didn't know about publishing. Although I had gone through publishing I before, I feel like I wasn't really paying attention last time. Thus, I encountered some difficulties in this semester while using Adobe InDesign. Perhaps, it's time for me to explore deeper into publishing to find clues on new possibilities of creative expressions, and also give me inspiration for the further project.

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FURTHER READINGS

Basics Design Layout by Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris

This book provides exploration in key areas of design through of case studies juxtaposed by key creative basics. Contemporary work is supported by the concise description, technical expansions, and diagrammatic visualizations, enabling the reader to fully understand the work being discussed. 

Notes:

A-series paper sizes: ISO metric standard paper size based on the square root of two ratio. The A0 sheet (841mm x 1189mm) is one square meter and each (A1, A2, A3, A4 etc) thereafter differs from the next by a factor of either 2 or 1/2.

Alignment: Text location within a text block in the vertical and horizontal planes.

Appropriation: The borrowing of style, typically used elsewhere, as the basis for a design.

Asymmetrical grids: A grid that is the same on recto and verso pages and typically introduces a bias towards one side of the page (usually the left).

Baseline: The imaginary line upon which the bases of all capital letters and most lowercase letters and most lower case letters are positioned.

Binding: Any of several processes for holding together the pages or sections of publication to form a book, magazine, brochure, or some other format using stitches, wire, glue, or other media.

Bleed: Printed content that extends past where the pages will be trimmed.

Cross-alignment: A typographical hierarchy where the different levels share a common relationship and can be aligned in the same grid.

Fibonacci numbers: A series of numbers developed by Fibonacci in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers. They are important because of their link to the 8: 13 ratio: the golden section.

Golden section: A division in the ratio 8:13 that produces harmonious proportions.

Grid: A guide or template to help obtain design consistency.

Print finishing: Production processes are undertaken to complete a printed work including, folding, binding, and cutting

Saddle-stitching: A binding method used for booklets, programmes, and small catalogues. Signatures are nested and wire stitches are applied through the spine along centerfold

Experimental Layout by Ian Noble and Russell Bestley

According to this book, the layout is the essence of graphic design and experiment the powerful force that has continually pushed the boundaries of the discipline. Authors Ian Noble and Russell Bestley explain the theories behind contemporary graphic design practice and show how they inform innovative approaches to layout in a series of outstanding designs that range from personal projects to successful, large-scale commercial work.

Notes:

The Familiar Form

In an age where the media available to us have become more and more intangible - on tv, the internet and voice mail, for example, our desire or need for a physical relationship with an object in heightened. From early childhood, we are introduced to the linear structures of words and their relationship to images in layout and book form. Even the most ubiquitous technology of the day, the computer, is provided with a manual in hard-copy form.