Publishing 2 (Project 1)

28/08/17 - 25/09/17 (Week 1 - Week 5)
Vinessa Lucia (0328421)
Publishing II : Mass Communication
Project 1 : The Book (Part I : Content Generating)

Lecture 1 (Week 3)

Historical Format

History of publishing comes from books that were hand written. Back in the 14th century if someone have a book, they must be rich.

People in the 14th century used to have sheep skin for books, which to create 1 book will be 6 months to 1 year, knowledge trap among the upper classes.

Until printing was developed, the moment typefaces were available, books become cheaper.

The most important elements in developing a book are : Sense of space, detailed oriented, and publishing software skills

Format includes the paper, type of paper, and the size of the book, the size of a book - target audience, content, cost effective

Different Types of Civilisation

Mesopotamia

As soon as technology arrives, creators follow it, as soon as computers were coming, they need fonts. Innovation always shadows technology 

“Record Keeping Before Writing”

Clay tablets will be initial formats that are being chosen, earlier form of writing will be recording.

The clay tablets from the mesapotamia evolve becoming thinner, cleaner

After that we have people writing on palm leaves (Bali, Thailand, Burma) because it was in a tropical climate, there was a lot of palm leaves.

The British are going around looking for artifacts, knowing now there are one of the biggest collectors.

Egypt

In Egypt the have papyrus, kinda like palm leaves. They would used existing media around them. Also they would write on tomb walls

Han-China

Chinese characters are written in vertical columns. Even the pictogram for the word book, is a collected bamboo script. The earliest book was found in China.

Chinese Publishing

In the 10th-11th century, China was one of the first publishing company. They have wood blocks, with the characters engraved and for the people to take the knowledge from those wooden blocks.

Turkey

Started using goatskin, europe started using skin. Because they used to use leather, and leather couldn’t be scrolled, that why the formats of the book today have the seem on the side.

Paper become very available in the the 14th century, because they know how to make paper, but the ingredients for it wasn’t found, so they substitute it for local ingredients.

Lecture 2 (Week 4)

History of Print

2nd-8th century AD

Any surface that transfer to artwork, is consider printing. Sheets of paper are laid down above each other then engraved it, people used to use that with brass and called it brass rubbing

In China printing didn’t work as well, which is why Korea takes the lead, sutra printed paper in Korea in AD 750-768. Prints were not able to be printed in large quantities, until it was developed in Japan. 

The difference between and pagoda. Stupa : clear connection of budhanist.

The first book (Chinese from the end of T’ang dynasty) the advancement of printing started on from this book.

Any form of printing was by religious people. Previously technology advancement, could be threatening to religion.

Printing was only for scholars, knowledge was not available to the public. Which is why only a few people know about the contents of the books and printing back then.

In China, characters engravement have to be written in reverse, in order to be correct on the print.

Movable Types

Types or characters that could be rearrange and could be reusable, it's a necessary step for printing, it came out from China. The technology didn’t move forward, it ended there but the idea move on to Korea.

11th century : Chinese coming up with movable type

14th century : the first provable document (the koreans using the chinese script)

Europe (didn’t have a problem with movable type, because of the limited characters)

1400

The technique of printing was introduced to Europe, whenever europian go around the world, they exchange information. Example if you look at the dancers in a part of India, they look like the Chinese traditional dancers.

Western printing

Gutenberg (The inventor of printing in Europe) was being sued, by his business partners, the only document that is printed was the document of him being sued.

Like all inventors, he didn't have any money, but he tried to funded it , and that he died bankrupt without money and his investors bring about the printing. During the process, everything that he did in this process is an invention, it has never been done before.

Fun fact : The world’s largest book is located in Myanmar, or Burma.

Lecture 3 (Week 5)

Typography Redux

Typography is the basis understanding for graphic designers, typography is the art of arranging and composing text, it is a medium for expression and communication.In book design, the understanding and sense developed will play a crucial role. Small capitals examples includes : Georgia, Adobe Caslon

Numerals :

- Lowercase numerals : small numerals (georgia, adobe calson pro, minion pro)

- Uppercase numerals : big numerals

Hyphen : Up-To-Date

Em Dash : (the distance of a long dash is as long as the m, but the distance of a short dash is half of m)

Ligature : ff fl is where the top curve of a letter hits another letter

Weights in a typefaces

• Light
• Light italic
• Regular
• Regular italic
• Etc

Legibility

It needs to be able to be readable, making sure everything is insync, the first step in making type legible, is to choose the correct typeface, choose a typeface also know the history, also to choose it to look at the x-height, also opened and proportionate.

2 types of underline : underline that goes across the whole sentence and underline under every word. A good underline is an underline that is under the word, not fully going across it.

Typography No's :

- Stretching

- Outline text (1pt, never exceed 1 pt)

- Shadow

Text that is well read is achieved by a harmonious relationship exist between type size, line length, and spaces between lines of types. In one paragraph 50-60 characters, when you read across if it exceeds more than that, it will be very long. After choosing point size we will know the leading and spacing of it, subtext and body text, the leading must be the same. Normal size (general size): : 8-12/8-11 pt

Reading documents needs to be handheld, the maximum length is your hand, so it must be readable by that long.

Point size 9, the leading should be 12, paragraph space 24. You indicate a paragraph spacing by having an indent. Don’t use widows and orphans ( one liners in the next or previous columns)

Drop caps : never exceed 3 lines, make sure that the line length is too short.

The side bar must have the same leading and spacing as the body text

Project 1 (20%) 

The Brief
The Book. (Part 1: Content Generating)

Duration of Assignment
4 Weeks (Briefing on Week 1)

DEADLINE
Week 5

Description
In this project you will be asked to create and design a book of 32 pages that is smaller than A4 but bigger than A5. Your task will be to:

1. Write 3000 words (English/Malay) on any subject that you are familiar with, for example: yourself, your family, someone who inspires you, your hometown, or an experience or an idea/belief that you feel strongly about, etc. The text content must be divided into 3 chapters minimum, it must also have 3/4/5 subtexts (sidebars) and one caption per chapter. You have 1 week for this.
   
2. Identify 16 areas in your written text for visualization, you may use any medium that is suitable for your topic/direction, for example: illustration, photography or mix-media. You have 3 weeks for this (after completing your 3000 words).
   

As you proceed through the stages of the project you will be given exercises that will help prepare you for the following or the current stages of the project. Project 01 must be finished within 4 weeks.
Requirements
The student must document the above progression in their eportfolio and A4 hardcopy portfolio. The results of the two phases must be collated and presented in the sample format shown in class. The 3000 words is to be formatted and submitted on A4 paper, at 9pt Helvetica, 11pt leading, consisting of all textual information of the book from front cover to back cover. A thumbnail printout of all 16 visuals as shown in the sample produced in class.
Submission

1. All gathered information (failures, successes, epiphanies, sketches, visual research, printouts, websites, images, charts, etc.) documented logically and chronologically in the A4 Clear Sheet folder. The works must be labelled and dated.
   
2. All gathered information (failures, successes, epiphanies, sketches, visual research, printouts, websites, images, charts, etc.) documented logically and chronologically in the eportfolio for the duration of the project in one post.
   
3. Typed content of 3000 words, formatted on A4 paper. (Left Aligned, 9pt Helvetica, 11pt leading, consisting of all textual information from front to back cover).
   
4. All 16 visuals placed in InDesign, using the predetermined page size and printed out in colour in a thumbnail printout.
   

Objectives

1. To develop students ability to generate own content.
   
2. To develop intimacy with content generated.
   
3. To develop students ability to communicate visually.
   
   
   
   

Project 1

Visuals 

Old Visuals 1

This was a couple of my first attempts on being able to make the visuals, but it didn't turn out well, but i put it in anyway to be able to compare between the old visuals and some of the new ones, also i tried different styles, because i thought it was better for me to explore around, yet still it didn't turn out good

Old Visuals 2



New Visuals
Research
So to keep it short, i decided to put the research and references only for the new ones. Also i realise that the visuals weren't working as well, because i didn't put much thought into it, and i just wanted to get it done, but turns out when you thin through it, also when you really do enjoy what you are doing, it helps a lot.

Also i decided to go with lamps, because if i were to put myself as an object it would be lamps, because i have such a high potential in burning myself or lighting things up, it resembles the good and bad in me and i really hope it clicks with my story :).

fig 1. different styles of lamps pt 1

fig 2. different styles of lamps pt 2

fig 3. different styles of lamps pt 3

Vectoring Style

fig 4. a more natural and sketchy approach towards the lamps

fig 5. the biggest references, to go more minimalist 

fig 6. an idea to play with positive and negative space

Lamp Angles

fig 7. the light breaking angle

fig 8. taking the light bulb from the the bottom angle

fig 9. the light bulb broken from the top

fig 10. the light bulb hanging from bellow 

Sketches 

fig 11. trying to play with different angles and lamp types

fig12. seeing how i could play up with the lamp's lights

Vector Trials

fig 13. developing the lights

fig 14. trying to make the cracks

fig 15. angles

fig 16. looking for the right angle

fig 17. trying to illustrated other lights 

fig 18. looking at the height

fig 19. looking inside 

fig 20. hanging them up top

But after the trials, it seems that the lights looks to vectoring and very flat, so than i decided to start over and figure a much more simpler approach to it hence this

But after consultation, Mr Vinod pointed out that there needs to be some adjustments and also needs to have a change in colour, because it was a bit more dangerous to have dark ad bright colours that are really contrasting but lacks in complementing.

The visuals was still not that pleasing, so than i decided to keep on going and to explore more, on what more can i improve, even though it has gotten better, the end result still doesn't came close to my liking, and it was still really lacking in visual pleasing for me, but here are the final visual.

Feedback

(Week 3)

Specific feedback

There is no problem with the style that i'm trying to do, but analyse the elements, and try it out, find lots of textures and visuals for it. Book wording : fix the format of the book, write down the back cover, also put in the subtext and pull quotes, also add in the reference list.

General feedback
work hard, and finish the visuals for the book, by next week. what every goes into the visuals next week, will determine how the visuals in the book will look in the end. Also work smart and be persistent.

(Week 4)

Specific feedback

Visuals are looking to forced together, also it doesn't have too many elements, which makes it feeling unwhole. Also it was looking very messy and not natural enough. The collages needs to be more abstract. There should be a richness within collages with the amount of elements in it.

General feedback
Work smart, remember the amount of time for the assignment, also use more abstract visuals.

(Week 5)

Specific feedback

Visuals : are not pleasing, it lacks in impact and is not eye catching, it would seems like just a bunch of photos threw together and mix into one, instead of utilising elements to make a visual. Also its not abstract enough and would be better to redo. Typefaces & fonts : need to work on it, don't use similar typefaces, but use a mix of serif and san serif would more likely work.

General feedback
"The visuals must have a sense of impact, its there not to represent your book in a direct manner, the project was catered to be personal to you, and thats why its your choice to make a visual as creative as it can be." -Mr.Vinod

Reflection

(Week 2)

Experience

I was so late to the class, because i wasn't in for the first week, to catch up is actually not quite easy, i missed out a lot of information, eventhough my friends was trying to give the full brief to me. I was lost at first, but week 3 got better as i started to catch up with the work load.

Observation

I observed that when all of us were doing the exercises, actually all of us are not that good in handy work, besides hesti, it was fun to see how all of us was trying to teach each other how to staple a book.

Findings

I found that it was very useful to actually learn with handy work, it helps me to understand more when i go into digital, its kind of like having to do it a 2nd time, but you've been trough the work already so you can kind of get it.

(Week 3)

Experience

Normally in the beginning of the semester, you would be more about research and findings, but for this semester the first few weeks was actually more towards doing the actual visuals, which didn't come easy to me.

Observation

I observed that i wasn't doing well during making of the visuals, which didn't help also with me trying out a new style for this semester.

Findings

I found that it was very helpful to be able to play around and try to find weird things to see, it really help in the design process

(Week 4)

Experience

This week was tough, because to complete 16 visuals with the style that i'm using wasn't as easy as i thought it was going to be. I really was in a mess this week, because of the visuals that i couldn't produce well

Observation

I observed that i was pushing myself to much to try a very new style for me, and as i see myself, i really am not someone who could do abstract, it was really tough for me.

Findings

I found that everyone was trying to do abstract simpler, it was smart i guess of how they just try simple abstract forms, instead of trying to make something that they're fully not into.

(Week 5)

Experience

Since last week was tough, and my visuals weren't pleasing, i decided to change styles more to a messy crayon texture feel, hopefully it will pay of, because i really don't get abstract art, it is so far from how i normally design things.

Observation

I observed that i was trying to hard to design something that i maybe am not that familiar or even not that explorative enough of the style i was trying to use

Findings

I found that some of my friends choose illustration, some of them choose more abstract style, but basically most of them were also not that familiar with abstract.

Book of the Week

(Week 2)

fig 21. Thinking with Type book

This book is filled with interesting type settings and typo treatments. In this particular, the typo is made to be more flexible and more fun, it stands out not only as a part of the visual, but the typo in the book has its own identity and its own significants.

Besides that it also teaches about the basics in typography, like the differences between typeface and font, also things like a little history about spacing, then again also the hierarchy that could be found by using different sizing and spacings. 

It also shows the different meanings between centered text, justified, flush left also flush right, what do we need to know before choosing the how we want to treat our text, different treatments have different meanings.

(Week 3)

fig 22. The Layout Book

Well firstly i picked this book because there is an interesting grid system, also how the text in the book varies, which compliments each body text very well, also it tells more so about the history of the how layouts come about, more so also about how printing is developed.

It is also interesting that this book doesn't only stop at the history of type, but also to be able to continue on and see the different styles of layouts throughout generations. Also finding out that there was a history of measurements and different types of it in order to be able to have and experiment with different types of layout.

(Week 4)

fig 23. Basic Layout Design

First of all this book have a very interesting binding, if you look closely on the side, also when you open it, it seems as if you can tear the pages, and the book wouldn't fall part, so that was interesting to begin with.

Anyway, inside is a collection, full with all different types of grid styles and how it shows so many different examples of grid application toward print media, such as the "Glasgow Conference Brochure", then "Tourism Victoria", so many of these are very good examples as to an approach of grids. 

(Week 5)

fig 24. Printmaking (A Contemporary Perspective)

Because during this week i was in a bit of a pickle when doing the layouts, so i actually went and got a more visual book instead of layouts and grids, but anyway this book is also very good, it tells about how much print making as evolve.

From something that is more abstract into something that is still abstract, yet the visual impact that it has is so much more, i learn that back then the colour on print making, weren't that vibrant and were not as popping as they are today.

Picture References 

Figure 1-3. http://www.shutterstock.com 

Figure 4-6. https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=lamp%20illustration&eq=lamp%20illustra&etslf=NaN&term_meta[]=lamp%7Cautocomplete%7Cundefined&term_meta[]=illustration%7Cautocomplete%7Cundefined 

Figure 7. broken light illustration

Figure 8. http://pin.it/x39hIz0

Figure 9. http://www.istockphoto.com/my

Figure 10. https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=lamp%20illustration&eq=lamp%20illustra&etslf=NaN&term_meta[]=lamp%7Cautocomplete%7Cundefined&term_meta[]=illustration%7Cautocomplete%7Cundefined 

Figure 11-24. Personal documentation