Publishing Design: Task 03(A)
WEEK 01 - WEEK 11 (30/08/2022 - 13/11/2022)
Adena Tan Sue Lynn (0345769) / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Publishing Design
Task 03(A)
DIRECTORY
- Lectures
- Instructions
- Final Submission
- Feedback
- Reflection
- Further Reading
- References & Picture Credits
As this task is a slight continuation from the previous tasks, you can find out more of what I had done from Task 01 & Task 02. Now, let's focus on Task 03(A)!
Content Included
As mentioned in previous tasks, the below two PDFs showcase the content+visuals I had generated for this task.
Format + Grid System
When doing my Exercise 02 in Task 01, I established that I wanted to make use of the size 240mmx200mm.
Then, in Exercise 05, I set my grids.
Below are the measurements which I had used for the above layout.
Layout References + Layout Tryouts from first page until end of Chap 01
For my layout, I looked online for examples from Pinterest and some which have been previously shared by Mr Vinod in the Publishing Design Facebook group. More of the layouts which I had looked at whilst finding inspiration can be found in my Pinterest board; layout.
After getting some inspiration, I started trying out different layouts. For myself, I tried out another two after creating my first one as I wanted to try making it edgier.
Working on the book
After receiving feedback from Mr Vinod, I settled on the first one (Figure 1.3.4) as I really liked how neat and consistent I had made my original, but still having a sense of variety within my layouts. Thus, I got working to it somemore.
After receiving feedback from Mr Vinod, I further edited my contents (especially the cover) to improve on it.
Test Prints
After I has established my layouts, I tried printing one to test out how it looks in the real world in the sense of colours, text size, etc.
I was happy with how it looked, especially the colours as I was worried how they would look like.
After printing my first test print and finishing my entire layout #1, I printed one which showcased all thumbnails as I wanted to see how all the pages looked like together.
Happy, I then printed my black & white version. I manually rearranged each of them to be printed nicely in the Taylor's Library which is why the below photos look so mismatched from the above pages. (pain). Below are some of the spreads with Mr Vinod's markings.
After I had adjusted my work in InDesign, I went to Angel Printing House to print. For the mediums I printed on, I used a Simili paper 100gsm for the inside, and if I'm not wrong, a Beyond Recycled Natural White 250gsm for the cover. The whole book costed me around RM49. Below showcases me flipping through this version.
Next, I printed another version after Mr Vinod provided me his feedback. This time, I went with Adeline and another RM49 in my wallet.
Below is the comparison of the cover with the previous version. The left is the first version, and the second one is the second version. Despite them being the same colour in the file, I have no idea why they ended up looking different this week...
Anyways... please find my mockup pictures in the Final Submission section.
Uploading to FlipHTML
I uploaded my file to FlipHTML (way easier than I thought it would be). I enjoyed how there was settings I could play with, but in the end I just went with the default settings.
BONUS!
Enjoy my muse reading my book.
FINAL SUBMISSION
Complete Thumbnail Layouts
Mockup Printout
Final Spreads
FlipHTML
FEEDBACK
Week 06 [04/10/2022]
General Feedback: Introduce dummy page numbers. For the book, avoid translucent whites over an image. Just make it fully white for an edgier look. There can be a good balance of edginess if there are things put out of the margins. Excluding cover (4 pages), that is not included for the book. Only the first page until the end of the book is counted. If the book exceeds 32 pages, there must be a multiple of four, always.
Specific Feedback: My page 8-9 is great. For my cat skeleton, Mr Vinod suggested I split them to make it more interesting to look at. For my other layout choices: Learn to slant to different degrees but controlled so that it is asymmetrical alignment. Widest part should be the the same width. Maintain consistency. The square blank idea works if they are justified text. Have to be very good @ typesetting since the small pages have the most potential problems.
Week 07 [11/10/2022]
General Feedback: Ensure that there is cut guidelines when printing for self as it is easier to cut later on.
Specific Feedback: Point size & line length is good. A suggestion for my numbering system for my subtexts would be for it to be in cyan or magenta which makes it stand out in a small way. Mr Vinod also pointed out a mistake which I had missed out on multiple times with I's at the end of the line. He also suggested I make the ragging a little better. He also reminded me that shift enter is a last resort. For my cover, he told me that I should have used an image from inside my book with a few edits to look powerful as it is not impactful currently.
Week 09 [25/10/2022]
Specific Feedback: The space for the Taylor's Press should have more breathing room. The typefaces and paper I had utilised were considered good. For the paper, Mr Vinod mentioned that there was good contrast between the two. After printing, the text look a little harsh due to the ragging. maybe needs to be smaller in size. Pt size might be too long for line length. I was informed I should also fix my cross alignment, which led to Mr Vinod fixing my problem for me by increasing the leading.
REFLECTION
Experience
Overall, I think designing this book has been very interesting to me. Sure, there were times I wanted to bang my head against the wall because I wasn't sure of the best ways to place things, but it has been one of the most enjoyable tasks this semester. Perhaps it was because we had full creative control (w/ Mr Vinod's feedback, of course), but I had really enjoyed being able to express myself through this book and its contents & layout. I also.. did not expect having to spend RM100 altogether for printing and I felt broke right after, but it provided a good experience as I got to see how printing shops work. For anyone reading, I had mixed feelings about printing @ A****l. The first time I went, it was really lovely and the people were really helpful, but the second time I went, the worker got frustrated for the file I had provided, despite them being okay with it the previous week, so I died inside on that day. However, it was a really good experience to try out a printing shop for my future works.
Observation
This task really has taught me that there is no single way to design a book. Being able to see my classmates' weekly progress was actually really inspiring as I could see the different ways they had laid out their content. Especially since everyone in class had different styles, I felt like I was already learning just by being in an environment where I could really just observe. For example, I didn't try putting text over a plain box as it didn't suit my theme, but it was very interesting to see my peers who did attempt it.
Findings
This task really forced me to have a brain at times and figure out how to maintain consistency while making things look interesting. I found that it is good to establish maybe your first chapter and then branch out into the other chapters for variation. I also found that it is tremendously helpful to have a slight mind into how to structure your artworks. At times, I wasn't sure where to put some, but having to look back at the previous chapters' layouts provided me inspiration and some guidance as to where to lay out my works.
FURTHER READING
For my further reading, I decided to read an article by Jyni Ong titled, "A Book on Books looks into the past, present and future of book design and publishing".
While the article did mention that it was a compilation of creatives' works, but a quote really stuck out to me when reading it. Specifically Raphael Kwok's statement that books still did not die during this new era of digital mediums. It reminded me that there are still physical mediums where text is heavily important. To me, it was a slight wake up call as I'm always just stuck to my laptop, but it was much needed. Not only that, but the images provided to show the readers the contents was really interesting as I got to witness many variations of how skilled individuals have designed their layouts/covers previously.
REFERENCES & PICTURE CREDITS
