Publishing Design / Task 1: Exercises
30.8.2022 - (Week 01 - Week )
Adeline Wong Chyn Nee / 0344017 / Mr.Vinod N
Publishing Design
Task 1 / Exercise 1
LECTURES
In our first-ever Publishing Design class, Mr. Vinod introduced us to
the module by briefing us on the MIB, he then went on to explain the
module's tasks that we will be doing for the semester.
These are my notes from our first F2F class:
- When making a book, make sure to start after receiving the full content of the book
- When writing “imprints”, the word “imprint” itself is usually not included in the final print
- The barcode cannot appear on a colored background
- There needs to have 5mm of white space around the barcode (no black border)
- The star of the book is the tile and the author, so both publisher and author having the same font size is a no-no
- ISBN is a serial number that is identified with every book
Task Notes:
- By the end, there should be 16 visuals to be paired with the 3000 words
- 3 chapters at most, every chapter must have 3 subjects
- Subjects in books are small little sub-text, they can be at the side or at the bottom
- The sidebar can be included to give more context
- Highlight the area within the 3000 words that we would like to visualize (to add visual to)
- Pullquotes are extra context after every chapter
- Find visuals that represent what you are trying to convey (If you are trying to express anger, visualize with an image of fire)
- Visuals that leave space for the reader to think and imagine, which allows them to engage
- Visuals can be mixed media, as long as it looks great
After the brief, we were told to prepare some materials for the next
class exercises:
Things to prepare for next week:
- A4 (16 sheets) / A3 (8 sheets) Paper
- Large rubber band/thread with needle
- Adhesive Tape (masking, sellotape, scotch)
- Steel Ruler (16" if you have)
- Cutter
- Pencil
- For the A4/A3 paper (recycle paper is also fine)
Week 01- Lecture 1 (30/08/2022): Formats
A. The Book
Fig. 1.1 Evolution of Book (source:
sfbooks review)
In this lecture, we were introduced to the publications of books. As in this semester, it is what we are focusing on, and also because it is the oldest and notably most significant form of publication with the most advances known to us. In this module, the software we are focusing on is Adobe Indesign and as Mr. Vinod said, if we see anyone trying to design a book using Adobe Illustrator, we are allowed to give two slaps on their faces, or on our own faces. One big reason is that the file size is going to be ginormous, so basically, don’t do it.
So what influences and determines the format of a book?
Next, we touched on what factors would influence and determine the
format of a book, Mr. Vinod mentioned two main factors. First, is the
reader of the book. If the reader is a 3-year-old child, a
smaller and more durable book would be more suitable. on the other hand,
if the reader is an older person like the elderly, a medium-sized and
softer book would be more suitable. Next, the content of a book,
if the information stored in a book is the amount of a phone book, then
thinner papers would be more suitable. In conclusion, the type of format
constitutes the type of binding, the type of paper, and the size.
Historic formats
These are the different civilizations around the world and each of their
uniqueness led to their decline.
Fig. 1.2 Civilizations around the world (source: Publishing Design
lecture)
The five civilizations around the world
1. Iran-Iraq: Mesopotamian Civilization
2. Egypt: Ancient Egyptian Civilization
3. India-Pakistan-Afghanistan: Indus Valley Civilization
4. China: Han Dynasty Civilization
5. Europe (Turkey & beyond): European Civilization
A. Mesopatamian Civilization
Fig. 1.3 & 1.4 Clay stones & clay tablet (source: Publishing
Design lecture)
Regarding the writing system, we first have to look at the earliest
civilization which is Mesopotamia, it is stated by Denise
Schmandt-Besserat in her essay on the token system “Record Keeping
Before Writing”, that the first writing system was actually developed
from a counting technology. It started in 7000bc when clay stones were
used to record trades and agriculture.
B. Indus River Valley Civilization
Fig. 1.5 & 1.6 Cuneiform on soft clay tablet (source: Publishing
Design lecture)
The Indus River Valley Civilization have the earliest systems of writing
where they kept records of the government, trades, and religious
matters. They were all written in Cuneiform which was written on a soft
clay tablet with a sharp pointed tool, like an ancient stylus.
Fig. 1.7 Palm leaf manuscript (source: Publishing Design lecture)
The oldest surviving manuscript is in Nepal and it is in the form of
dried-out palm leaves a sharp tool would be used to scratch the surface
and then the palm leaf would be smeared in soot to darken the scratched
area, making it visible and more apparent. Since the material is
bio-degradable, very little of them are now stored so they rely on oral
history. Most of the manuscripts are now stored in Tanjuvar Temple, a
UNESCO site in the Southern part of India.
C. Egyptian Civilization
Fig. 1.8 & 1.9 Scribes' writings on Papyrus paper (source:
Publishing Design lecture)
The Egyptian civilization is the oldest known civilization known to us,
however, is no longer living. Around 2560-2550 BCE, the scribes were the
only people in the Egypt civilization who read and write Hieroglyphics,
they were writing on a special type of paper called Papyrus, not only
that, they wrote on tomb walls. Around 1600 BCE, Hieratic was written
from right to left. They were written in black ink and explained in red
ink, the purpose of the papyrus writings is concerned with traumas and
surgery.
D. Han-China Civilization
Fig. 1.10 & 1.11 Bamboo books (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Back in 1500 BCE, Bamboo books were written in vertical columns, so a
single bamboo strip would be ideal for a single column, multiple were
tried together to create a single page. From this time is where the
concept of “pages” was born and has eventually evolved into the pages we
have now.
i. The first printed book: Diamond Sutra 868 CE
Fig. 1.12 Diamond Sutra 868 CE (source: Publishing Design lecture)
From this time, the first ever printed book was made, it was discovered
in a cave in Dunhuang in 1899. Using paper, it is in a scroll format
which was invented in 179-41 BCE.
ii. Chinese Publishing in the 10th - 11th century
Fig. 1.13 Diamond Sutra 868 CE (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Back then, printing from wood blocks was a laborious process. Confucious
classics as well as Buddhist and Taoist works were printed since the
time of Sima Qian. They then later introduced a movable type of carving
which lessens the intense labor work.
This innovation which then pioneered in China and even Korea.
E. Europe (Turkey) Civilization
Fig. 1.14 Animal hide (source: Publishing Design lecture)
In Turkey, parchments were created from animal hides, as the material
which they had used before which was animal leather, was too heavy.
Therefore, this innovation was created and then later spread to Europe.
Around 50 AD, parchment books were made by the Europeans.
Fig. 1.15 Parchment Scroll (source: Publishing Design lecture)
The use of paper would make its journey from China all the way to Europe
after traveling to other civilizations such as the Persia-Arab empire
and Turkey. In Europe, paper became widely used when wood pulp was first
introduced as a new material for making books, it was first used to
print the Boston Weekly Journal.
Week 02- Lecture 2 (06/08/2022): History of Prints
In the week 2 lecture, Mr. Vinod first reminded us of what we
talked about in the week 1 lecture, the meaning of the terms AD, BCE, and CE. AD
is the old classification which means after the death of Christ.
However, now we use the term CE which means “Common Era” and BCE
is “Before Common Era”.
A. 2nd-8th century AD
Fig. 2.1 Engraved slabs and their printing (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Back in the days in China, in order for the scholars
to be accepted as a part of the court of Confucian
scholars, they were eager to own the engraved slabs
which were used for large-scale printing. It is called brass rubbing.
B.Korea and Japan AD 750-768
Fig. 2.2 First printed document (source: Publishing Design lecture)
For Buddhists, the invention of printing was a striking achievement. Korea first takes the lead in this advancement. The earliest known printed document is a sutra printed on a single sheet of paper in Korea, it is now exhibited at the National Museum of Korea.
Fig. 2.3 Lucky charm/ prayer commission (source: Publishing Design lecture)
This was then followed by Japan when the empress commissioned
a huge edition of lucky charm or prayer in devoutly
BudhistNara which took 6 years to complete, there were
millions printed and many have survived
Fig. 2.4 the One Million Pagoda (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Japan also had a large-scale printing of woodblock, the
HyakumantoDarani (the One Million Pagoda) which is the
earliest recorded use of woodblock printing in Japan. The
pagodas were distributed around the country as thanksgiving.
C. The first printed book AD 868
Fig. 2.5 First printed book (source: Publishing Design lecture)
As explained in the last lecture, the first ever book
is Chinese and it is in a form of a scroll that is 16 feet
long and a foot high, they were multiple papers glued
together at their edges, and it depicts an enthroned Buddha
surrounded by holy attendants.
Chinese publishing: 10th - 11th century
The Diamond Sutra is an example of the laborious work
from printing with wood blocks, in the 10th and 11th
centuries, the scrolls are published for scholarly use,
and each of them had 5000 scrolls. This laborious
task was unavoidable until the movable type.
Fig. 2.6 The Diamond Sutra (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Movable types are read-made characters that can be
arranged and used, this is done before printing, it is
also less costly in ancient Chinese times.
They, however, faced two impractical considerations, they
first have to have many Chinese characters for printing
prepared and it become too complex. The other is that the
Chinese printers cast their clay and then fire them,
however, which makes it a fragile material.
D. Type foundry in Korea: c.1380
The Koreans, on the other hand, were using Chinese characters, basically hieroglyphics, so they
faced the same problem. To solve that, they invented
their own national alphabet which is hangul.
Fig. 2.7 Movable type in Korea (source: Publishing Design lecture)
E. Saints and playing cards: AD c.1400
In about 1400, the technique of printing on woodblocks
is introduced in Europe. However for them in the east,
the main market is holy images for sales to pilgrims.
Playing cards are another early part of the western
trade.
Fig. 2.8 Holy images (source: Publishing Design lecture)
F. Gutenberg & western printing: AD 1439 - 1457
Gutenberg first appeared in connection with printing,
he was capable of printing small items of texts from the
movable type, he passed without getting the name, fame, and
money until someday, someone did research and stumbled
across his name. His known developments are the development
of the printing press, which is capable of applying a rapid
but steady downward pressure. Since Gutenberg was skilled
with metal, that enabled him to master complex stages in the
manufacturing of individual pieces of type.
Fig. 2.9 Gutenberg (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Fig. 2.10 & 2.11 42-line Bible & Gutenberg
metalwork (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Fig. 2.12 & 2.13 Largest book at Mandalay,
Myanmar (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Week 03- Lecture 3 (13/08/2022): Typo’ Redux
For the week 3 lecture, we had a recap of the things we learned in Typography and Advanced Typography, this lecture is to remind us of the things we have learned.
A. Characters
In most types of families, we would see characters like these:
Fig. 3.1 Characters in a type family (source: Publishing Design lecture)
The small capitals as shown in the image above has the same X-height as the lowercase letters, they are not seen in all typefaces as it is an expert typeface.
Characters in a typeface:
- Small caps
- Numerals
- Fractions
- Ligatures
- Punctuations
- Mathematical signs
- Symbols
- Non-aligning figures
Fig. 3.2 Characters in a type family (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Swashes as shown in the image above are not meant to be used in one sentence, but only at the beginning of a word to add style to perhaps a name on a wedding invitation card.
Ligatures are made to make up for the space in between two letters that would have a large space in the middle, to fix that, ligatures are made to join the characters together.
Back then, the elegance of numbers was not an important case so the size did not matter, they weren't the size of capital letters, but were unelegant that were all over the place. Until recently, they’ve started to change that.
B. Weight in a typeface
Fig. 3.3 Characters in a type family (source: Publishing Design lecture)
C. Legibility
Departure from having legibility in the body of the text should be attempted when the designer is totally familiarized with them, and when the content lends itself to expressive interpretation. 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, Jenson, Caslon; and the sans serif faces Franklin Gothic, Frutiger, Gill Sans, Helvetica, Myriad Pro, and more.
Opened and well proportioned
Fig. 3.4 Anatomy of Typography (source: Publishing Design lecture)
The top line is known as the median line or sometimes the mean line, the bottom line is known as the baseline, the space above the ascender line is known as the cap line and the one below the descender space is the descender line.
Fig. 3.5 Serif & San serif (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Special styles
With the advancements of computers comes the abuse of it as many are unaware of the typographical conventions and violated them at the expense of the reader.
Fig. 3.6 Underlines (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Underline: It is used incorrectly in figure 3.6, the line is not supposed to touch the characters as it impedes readability.
Fig. 3.6 Small & All caps (source: Publishing Design lecture)
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.
Fig. 3.7 Special-purpose styles (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Special-purpose style: Many formatting styles exist within the software for making footnotes, references, and mathematical formulas. They are all available but the negative skew is not recommended for use.
Fig. 3.8 Text scaling (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Text Scaling: Some programs allow for the user to create a pseudo-condense or extended font horizontally, it is not recommended to us students but only maybe in the future. That is because doing that could make our texts look cheap when distorted.
Fig. 3.9 Outline & shadows (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Outline & Shadow: This is a style that can help readability but once abused, can distort the text completely, and we are recommended to avoid using them as far as possible.
If ever we intend to outline a text, it should never be over 1 pt as it disrupts the readability. For shadows, they should never be positioned too far away from the actual text.
D. Type size, line length & line spacing
This three exist harmoniously to make text flow naturally and texts can look out of balance when not adjusted accordingly.
Fig. 3.10 50-character type column (source: Publishing Design lecture)
A column of the type usually is about 50 characters across, and no more than 65 characters. A type that is too small will "cram" too many letters per line and make the copy hard to read. Remember, the type that is hard to read may not be read at all.
Fig. 3.11 Line spacing (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Line spacing: they are adjusted according to the type size, so there are no set rules. However, there are some major factors to consider.
Fig. 3.12 Line length (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Line length: Too long or too short of a line length is never good, however, it still depends on the type of text we are putting out.
- The font used
- The line length
- The type size
An example of the body of text with different line spacing:
Fig. 3.12 Example of different line spacings (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Paragraph indent: they are most common as small indents at the beginning of a paragraph. 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.
Fig. 3.13 Widow & Orphan (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Character & space: Many times when trying to type a text, adjusting the font, size, and line spacing are enough, however, we can sometimes get rid of “widows” and “orphans” by kerning to create a more pleasant look to the text.
Fig. 3.14 Italics & Capitals (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Italics & Capitals: It is always used in certain texts for specific reasons, so they should not be used in a full sentence.
Fig. 3.15 Alignments (source: Publishing Design lecture)
- Flush-left, ragged right
- Flush-right, ragged left
- Centered alignments
- Justified text
Each of the alignment types comes with issues of its own when not properly used.
Fig. 3.16 & 3.17 Paragraph spacings (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Paragraph Spacings: it is an automatic space in between each paragraph that is applied when starting a new paragraph. Creating paragraph spacings is a more elegant way to create paragraph spacings instead of double-entering.
Fig. 3.18 Hyphens, En-Dashes & Em-Dashes (source: Publishing Design lecture)
Hyphen & Dashes: Hyphens are used to divide words or numbers, and also break words from one sentence or another, while dashes come in two variants, one that can substitute for the word "to" and "through".
Week 04- Lecture 4 (27/09/2022): The Grid
For the week 4 lecture, we were introduced to the grid, one aspect of the typographical systems. To start the lecture, we were first asked the question "Can we design without using grids?" Mr. Vinod stated that it actually depends. To answer that he relates this question to the following slides in the lecture which talk about the Raster systeme.
A. Raster Systeme
In the lecture, we learn what we know and how to use what we know in a variety of ways with individuals like El Lissitsky, Jan Tschichold, Paul Renner, and many others individuals. It is from their experimentations that are shared, passed on, refined, and reworked.
Using the Grid system is a cultural spirit and values, it is the expression of a certain mental attitude inasmuch as it shows that the designer conceives his work in terms that are constructive.
- Margin Area
A lot of times students tend to neglect this particular space but it is super important as the space makes or breaks a design. So the margin area is crucial to any design because how beautiful a layouts look is dependent on the space that we give around our text beams or our fields.
Every cell that we see in the column or row is known as a text field where text generally floats into every space that is in between each text field or column.
The entire verticle bit is known as a column and what's in between is known as a gutter. Sometimes they're known as column intervals.
The line that cuts across all three columns is called a hang line.
Typically, when placing body text, it is placed at the top of the grid, however, when there is a heading they are then placed at the hang line. This varies from designer to designer but this is what is typically done.
The grid is used by Typographers, Graphic Designers, Photographers, and Exhibition Designers for solving visual problems in two or three dimensions.
By arranging the surface and spaces in the form of a grid the designer is favorably placed to arrange his texts, photographs, and diagrams in a coherent and functional manner.
This creates a sense of compact planning, intelligibility, and clarity and suggests orderliness in design. Information that is presented in clear and logically set out titles, subtitles, texts, illustrations, and captions will not only be read more quickly and easily but the information will also be better understood and retained in the memory.
What's important is that, by arranging the different sections and contents, we will be able to arrange them in a consistent manner, so with the grid system, it is easy to do that.
The grid in nature allows flexibility, unlike the modular system. However, these variations must have a limit when using it within a book in order to maintain a certain amount of continuity and coherence in its outlook and navigation.
A healthy amount of variation is good so the reader doesn't get bored.
The key point in book design is when we design a book and are trying to communicate a set amount of information to the reader, the more easier and rational that communication is, the better the understanding and the reading experience of the reader.
D. Readability and Legibility
Question: Why do we do what do we do?
Our responsibility as designers is towards those who are going to experience and use/interact with our works. In doing so we are automatically fulfilling the wishes of the client, whether he knows it or not - that's a story for another day.
The Grid helps us in making the user experience seamless. A well-executed design, is one that works subtly in the background and allows the work - on the pages – to do the talking; clearly, logically, with elegance or beauty. The experience of the reader in turning the pages and being pleasantly surprised at what he/she is confronted with allows for more engagement, retention, and understanding.
In the end, The Grid is like the hidden framework behind a beautifully constructed architecture – you don't see it, but it's there. The more we use the system, the less intimidating it becomes and the more comfortable we become and see more variation that comes out of it. We will know how to create a design based on the system when we find the balance in using the system.
Week 05- Lecture 5 (04/10/2022): Elements
For the week 5 lecture, we were introduced to the element, there are 3 known elements in a book, and in this lecture, we will be unraveling them. To start the lecture, we were first asked the question "What are the elements that make up a book?" Mr. Vinod then leads this question to the next slide which explains the 3 fundamental elements of a book.
A. Book
All publications consist of these 3 fundamental elements:
1) Type
2) Colour
3) Image
Holding the above together is the format and grid which was explained in the previous lecture.
B. Variation
When using the three publication elements within a grid system, it is important to not have a predictable layout, therefore we would need to find a balance while having some fixed areas like typeface, color, hang line and etc.
We must try to create variation within the layout but at the same time maintain consistency across the book.
Example of a healthy variation:
Page one: body text + graphical elements like image or color, this is variation.
Page two: sub-text + big visual element like image or color covering both pages
Page three: body text + body text
Page four: big visual element like image or color + body text
INSTRUCTIONS
Task 1: Exercises
In this module, we are required to complete 6 exercises that
are coherent with tasks 2 and 3, they will be prescribed at
various phases of the module. These exercises will aid and
benefit us in our quest to gain theoretical and practical
knowledge in book design that will inform us whilst completing
various phases of the module’s tasks.
The exercises are as follows:
1) Text formatting
2) Mock-up making
3) Signature folding systems (8+8=16)
4) Classical Grid structure
5) Determining Grids
6) Form & Movement Exercises (Thumbnail)
• 1 Colour
• 2 Colour
• 2 Colours + Image
• Colour + Image + Text
Week 01- Task 1 Exercise 1 (Text Formatting)
In task 1, we are required to complete a text formatting of 3000 words for our book, this is my content draft inspired by my own experience.
Fig. 4.1 Text Formatting (My Bumpy First Love)
Week 02- Task 1 Exercise 2 (Mock-up making)
In task 1, we completed our exercises in class, for exercise 2, we made a mock-up for our desired book page size, tried out different sizes, and finally chose one to be made into our book in task 3.
Fig. 4.2 Mock-up making - drawing the dimensions (scanned)
These are the sizes I have tried, and I chose one from the three:
- 171mm x 234mm
- 200mm x 230mm (chosen size)
- 180omm x 260mm
I eventually chose the 200mm x 230mm size because of the goal of style I was going for my book, I am aiming for a more zen-like style, and thought that a wider book size would suit it best.
Fig. 4.3 Mock-up making - (top-view measurements)
Fig. 4.3 Mock-up making - (top-view measurements)
Fig. 4.4 Mock-up making - (top-view measurements)
Week 02- Task 1 Exercise 3 (Signature folding system)
For exercise 3, we attempted the signature 8+8=16 folding system for book printing, we made a mini version and wrote numbers on each page, opened them up to see the numbers inside, and stapled the pages together.
Fig. 4.5 Signature folding system - (scanned top view)
Fig. 4.6 Signature folding system - (top view measurement)
Fig. 4.7 Signature folding system - video
Week 02- Task 1 Exercise 4 (Van De Graf)
For exercise 4, we followed the tutorial video by Mr. Vinod to create the classical grid of Van De Graf, this is my attempt at it.
Fig. 4.8 Van De Graff classical grid structure - (scanned top view)
After that, I went to InDesign to digitalize the Van De Graf, there is a tutorial video on it which I followed as well.
Fig. 4.9 Van De Graff on InDesign
Fig. 4.10 Van De Graff on InDesign (PDF)
Fig. 4.11 Van De Graff with Sample text
Week 02- Task 1 Exercise 5 (Determining Grid)
For exercise 5, we followed the instruction of Mr. Vinod during online class and explore our own grids with our found designs. The following attached exercises are shown in PDF.
This is the export of the same grid but with the visible grid only.
I then tried to create my own grid and incorporate my first chapter into the spread.
Week 02- Task 1 Exercise 6 (Form & Movement)
For exercise 6, we are required to create 8 spreads of design containing the publication elements while maintaining form and movement. It is a step-by-step task where we have to get one down before moving on to the next. The first step is the B&W.
Form & Movement (Black and White)
Fig. 5.1 Form & Movement (Black and White)
Form & Movement (Colour)
I tried two different colors and fixated on yellow as it would suit the image I chose best.
Fig. 5.2 Form & Movement (Colour #1)
Fig. 5.2 Form & Movement (Colour #2)
Form & Movement (Image)
I have decided to choose an image of Marilyn Monroe to honor her glory, especially with the recent release of a Netflix series that exploits her past and trauma.
Fig. 5.3 Chosen image of Marilyn Monroe (1250 x 500 in size)
Fig. 5.4 Form & Movement (Image)
Form & Movement (Text)
Fig. 5.4 Form & Movement (Text)
FINAL SUBMISSION
Task 1 Exercise 1 (Text Formatting - 3000 words)
Fig. 6.1 Text Formatting (PDF)
Task 1 Exercise 2 (Mock-up making)
- Book size - 200mm x 230mm
Fig. 7.1 Scanned mock-up making (JPEG)
Fig. 7.2 Mock-up making (JPEG)
Fig. 7.3 Top-view mock-up making (JPEG)
Fig. 7.4 Top-view comparison mock-up making (JPEG)
Task 1 Exercise 3 (Signature folding system)
Fig. 8.1 Scanned signature folding system (JPEG)
Fig. 8.2 Top-view scanned signature folding system (JPEG)
Fig. 8.3 Top-view scanned signature folding system (MP4)
Task 1 Exercise 4 (Van De Graf - manual and digital)
Fig. 9.1 Scanned Van De Graff classical grid structure (JPEG)
Fig. 9.2 Van De Graff classical grid structure in InDesign (JPEG)
Fig. 9.3 Van De Graff in InDesign (PDF)
Fig. 9.4 Text applied (JPEG)
Fig. 9.5 Van De Graff in InDesign (PDF)
Fig. 9.6 Van De Graff in InDesign with grid (PDF)
Task 1 Exercise 6 (Form & Movement)
Fig. 10.1 Form & Movement, B&W (JPEG)
Fig. 10.2 Form & Movement, colour (JPEG)
Fig. 10.3 Form & Movement, image (JPEG)
Fig. 10.4 Form & Movement, text (JPEG)
Fig. 10.4 Form & Movement Compilation (PDF)
FEEDBACK
Week 02
General Feedback: Be specific with the copyright. Remember to reference everything, including sources, visuals, etc. In the next stage, look at visual references and research as much as possible. It was reminded to have a benchmark to achieve consistency throughout the book. When conceptualizing your visuals, remember to not be so literal. Convey something beyond the literal expression and make it abstract.
Week 3
General Feedback:
When starting with your layout, the most important thing is having the right margin. In class, we were advised to think of visuals for our book that are cutting-edge that can create a mature layout and design. We are required to update our eportfolio, and by next week’s class, we have to show Mr. Vinod at least 4 to 5 visuals, “shock me with your visuals!” he said.
Specific Feedback:
My paragraph along with the subtext’s type size needs to be decreased. The left side of the heading box is jiggered so it doesn’t look so I was advised to change the texts to justified left and also decrease the
Week 4
General Feedback:
To introduce a new element, you have to have a connection to the previous spread. Don’t have too many forms in one spread, because they have to be balanced and aligned with the previous and next spread so there could easily be an imbalance if there are too many elements. For the illustrations and visuals, we are advised to crop and scale them when creating the layout so the readers would know what they’re looking at. When creating our cover page, we are advised to only create the visuals without thinking of the layout, we should always create the illustrations first.
Specific Feedback:
My form has a slight movement but there is no connectivity, one spread it's here than the other, it's all the way on the other end. There should be more things in the middle before you get to one point.
REFLECTION
Experience
Throughout this task, I got to experience and learn first-hand the fundamental of a book, its publication elements and how they are applied on the books that we read everyday. With the knowledge I acquired from working on the exercises in this task, I got to understand the story behind the book i hold such as what is an imprint, how do pages work, and why should they work that way. I feel that it also made me appreciate the book i have even more. Although I has some uncertainties throughout the overall experience, I did enjoyed working and learning from what I was doing.
Observation
When trying to print the black and white pages for Mr. Vinod to review and give feedback to, I have observed and learned from my friend Adena how to print book pages manually. It is the process of rearranging the pages on your inDesign spreads so when it is printed and folded, it becomes a book automatically. It took her some time to learn and figure out but when she finally did it, she taught me and some other classmates how to do it. I think in the future, if there are any projects or tasks that require me to print a book, I would like to try this method.
Findings
In this task, I have discovered even more features on InDesign that helped me to complete the exercises smoothly, such as the wrap around shape feature, paste in place, and many export settings such as Adobe print which exports PDF and the print option which allows us to export thumbnails of our spreads. Not only that, I have yet again familiarise myself on a much deeper level with the known features on InDesign. I feel that the more I did my exercises the more i am comfortable with the software.
FURTHER READING
Fig 11.1 The Vignelli Canon on Design by Massimo Vignelli
A. Focused content for further reading: Grids, Margins, Columns, and Modules
From reading this topic, I have gathered and written my part of the conclusion. Firstly, written in the book are the various reasons why grids are used and why it is so important to use them.
- It organizes the content
- It provides consistency
- It gives an orderly look
- It projects a level of intellectual elegance that we like to express
After knowing the importance of using the grid, I now learn which type of grid to use for my design use. I need to find the most appropriate one and the basic understanding is that the smaller the module of the grid the least helpful it could be, however, coarse grids can also be restricting and offers too few alternatives. So the secret is to find the proper kind of grid for the job at hand.
Fig 11.2 Grid Variation, 3x6 (left) 5x4 (right)
Next, I learned what makes a grid. There is the vertical grid which provides consistency, which is columns, and also a horizontal grid called modules, which are horizontal frames of reference to assure certain levels of continuity throughout the publication.
Lastly, once the page is structured, we can now begin to structure the information and place it in the grid in such a way that the clarity of the message will be enhanced by the placement of the text on the grid. So, one should learn to use it to retrieve the most advantageous results.
B. Focused content for further reading: Contrasting Type Sizes
From reading this topic, I have gathered and written my part of the conclusion. Firstly, written in the book is the purpose of contrast in type and its examples
- It is the play between a very large type size for headlines versus a much smaller type size for the body text
- White space for me is a very important element in the graphic composition. It is really the white that makes the black sing
Fig 11.3 Example of contrast in type, taken from the book
How important is the white space in this matter?
Taken from the book is this statement, "It is really the white that makes the black sing. White, in typography, is what space is in Architecture. It is the articulation of space that gives Architecture the perfect pitch."
With the contrast in type, the first rule is to stick to one or two type sizes at the most. If necessary, there are other devices such as bold, light, roman, and italic to differentiate different parts of a text.
Lastly, there is a quote from the book that I think is worth noting, "In a world where everybody screams, silence is noticeable. White space provides silence. That is the essence of our typography."
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