Publishing Design

August 18, 2025

Publishing Design

24.09.2025 - xx.xx.2025 / Week 1 - Week 14

Khu Ying Ying / 0357306

Publishing Design / GCD61404 / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media

LECTURES

Week 1 (24/09/2025) Formats

Week 1 (24/09/2025) History of Print

Week 1 (27/09/2025) Typo Redux

Week 1 (27/09/2025) The Grid

Week 1 (27/09/2025) Elements

INSTRUCTIONS

TASK 1: EXERCISES

Week 1 (24/09/2025) Exercise Progress

TASK 2: CONTENT GENERATION

Week 2 (01/10/2025) Ideation

Week 3 (10/10/2025) Title

Week X (xx/xx/2025) Final Submission of Task 2

FEEDBACKS

REFLECTIONS

LECTURES

Week 1 (24/09/2025)

Formats

The Book:

One of the oldest publishing formats.
Medium to document and share ideas, knowledge, records, and history.
Design requires typography, spacing, detail, and publishing tools.
Book formats include binding, paper type, and size, while balancing artistic vision with commercial goals.

Historical Formats:

Figure L1.1: Old Civilization, Week 1 (24/09/2025)

Iran-Iraq: Mesopotamian Civilization

First writing systems developed from accounting technology.
The shift from simple and complex tokens to bullae paved the way for early pictographic writing on clay tablets.

Figure L1.2: Mesopotamian Civilization, Week 1 (24/09/2025)

India-Pakistan-Afghanistan: Indus Valley Civilisation

Not much is known about it, but they did have a complex system.
Their cuneiform writing on clay tablets recorded government, religion, and trade.

Cuneiform: Notes

The oldest surviving palm leaf manuscript, from Nepal (800-900 CE), suggests their use may date back to 1000 BCE, and they were a common medium across South Asia.

Figure L1.3: Indus Valley Civilization, Week 1 (24/09/2025)

Egypt: Ancient Egyptian Civilization

Only scribes could read and write Hieroglyphics.
Written on a papyrus and on the tomb walls.

Papyrus: A thick type of paper made from the pith of the papyrus plant.

Figure L1.4: Ancient Egyptian Civilization, Week 1 (24/09/2025)

China: Han Chinese Civilization

Early Chinese characters were written in vertical columns on bamboo strips, with threads linking strips for longer texts.
The earliest known printed book, from the late Tang dynasty, was found in a Dunhuang cave in 1899.
Woodblock printing was pioneered in China and perfected in Korea.

Figure L1.5: Han Chinese Civilization, Week 1 (24/09/2025)

Europe (Turkey and beyond): European Civilization

Parchment, invented in Turkey around 197-159 BC, was too thick and heavy for scrolls.

Parchment: It is made from animal hide.

Europeans began making parchment books around 50 AD, while paper became common only by 1400-1500 CE.
Books were bound using wooden covers with thread-sewn pages.

Figure L1.6: European Civilization, Week 1 (24/09/2025)

Week 1 (24/09/2025)

History of Print

2nd-8th Century AD:

The Chinese emperor ordered the six Confucian classics carved in stone in AD 175.
Scholars made copies by rubbing paper over the engravings with charcoal, producing white text on a black background.

Figure L2.1: 2nd-8th Century AD, Week 1 (24/09/2025)

Korea and Japan: AD 750-768

The earliest known printed document is a sutra from Korea, printed on a single sheet of paper in AD 750.
In the Buddhist Nara, the empress commissioned a six-year project producing millions of printed prayer charms for pilgrims.
The Hyakumanto Darani (“One Million Pagodas & Dharani Prayers”) is among the earliest large-scale uses of woodblock printing in Japan.

Figure L2.2: Korea and Japan - AD750-768, Week 1 (24/09/2025)

Movable Type: From the 11th Century

Movable type, which consisted of reusable letters arranged into texts, was a crucial step in making printing an efficient medium for communication.
Movable type was tested but proved impractical due to the complexity of the script and the fragility of clay characters in 11th-century China

Type Foundry in Korea: c.1380

The Koreans established a foundry to cast movable type in bronze as it was sufficiently strong for repeated printing, dismantling, and resetting for a new text.
Koreans invented the phonetic hangul alphabet in the 1440s to simplify writing, coinciding with Gutenberg's movable type in alphabetic Europe.

Saints and Playing Cards: AD c.1400

Printing from woodblocks was introduced to Europe around 1400, using a simple rubbing technique to produce holy images for pilgrims and playing cards.
Technical innovations in Germany later in the 15th century transformed printing from a small-scale craft into a foundation of Western civilization.

Figure L2.3: Saints and Playing Cards - AD c.1400, Week 1 (24/09/2025)

Gutenberg & Western Printing: AD 1439-1457

Gutenberg's printing enterprise was first documented in a 1439 Strasbourg lawsuit, where witnesses described his press and metal type.
His background as a goldsmith enabled him to develop movable type through master letters, precision molds, and specialized metal alloys.
In 1450, he secured 800 guilders from Johann Fust by using his printing equipment as collateral for their partnership.
His workshop produced the undated 42-line Bible by 1456 and the innovative two-color Mainz Psalter in 1457.

Figure L2.4: Gutenberg & Western Printing - AD 1439-1457, Week 1 (24/09/2025)

Week 1 (27/09/2025)

Typo Redux

Typography:

A fundamental skill for graphic designers to achieve a good standard of work.
It is the art of arranging text, serving as a crucial medium for expression and communication.

Characters in a Typeface:

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

Figure L3.1: Characters in a Typeface, Week 1 (27/09/2025)

Figure L3.2: Ligature and Weights in a Typeface, Week 1 (27/09/2025)

Legibility:

Open and Well-Proportioned Typefaces:

Choose well-proportioned, classic typefaces to ensure text is easy to read.

Serif Typefaces: Garamond, Bodoni, Bembo, Minion Pro, Baskerville, Jenson, Caslon.
Sans Serif Typefaces: Franklin Gothic, Frutiger, Gill Sans, Helvetica, Myriad Pro.

Break legibility rules only when you've mastered them and the content allows creative expression.

Figure L3.3: Open and Well Proportioned Typefaces, Week 1 (27/09/2025)

Underline:

Lower underlines to avoid touching characters, as default program settings often impede readability.
There are two types of underlines: one that affects entire sentences and one that affects only the words.

Figure L3.4: Underline, Week 1 (27/09/2025)

Small Caps and All Caps:

Small capitals are good for subheads/first line of a paragraph.
All capitals should be used in short headlines/subheads, but should never be used for long sentences and emphasis.

Figure L3.5: Small Caps and All Caps, Week 1 (27/09/2025)

Special-Purpose Style:

Formatting styles exist in software to make footnotes, references, and mathematical formulas.

Figure L3.6: Special-Purpose Style, Week 1 (27/09/2025)

Text Scaling:

Never artificially stretch or squeeze fonts (horizontal/vertical scaling), as it distorts the design and makes messaging appear cheap.
Use true condensed or extended fonts instead of creating fake versions by scaling a regular font.

Figure L3.7: Text Scaling, Week 1 (27/09/2025)

Outline and Shadow:

Avoid outline and shadow styles whenever possible, as they are often misused and can appear amateurish.
Effective typography requires skill and experience that cannot be replaced by simple software effects.

Figure L3.8: Outline and Shadow, Week 1 (27/09/2025)

Type Size, Line Length, and Line Spacing*:

Legibility in text depends on the balance between type size, line length, and line spacing (leading).
Even excellent fonts become illegible if any one of these three elements is unbalanced.
Key Principles:

Notes

Figure L3.9: Title, Week 1 (27/09/2025)

Character and Word Space:

Spacing & Alignment: Proper character, word, and line spacing ensure readability and visual balance. Larger type sizes may require manual adjustments, and attention should be given to avoid widows and orphans in paragraphs.
Kerning & Word Spacing: Kerning (space between characters) and word spacing affect the overall “typographic colour,” or the text’s visual consistency. While most software applies kerning automatically, some letter combinations may need manual refinement.
Italics & Capitals: Use italics sparingly for emphasis, as large sections in slanted type hinder readability. Avoid setting long passages in all capitals since it reduces legibility and eliminates visual cues from letter shapes.

Alignment:

Spacing: Adjust character, word, and line spacing for readability and to avoid widows and orphans.
Kerning: Fine-tune inter-character and word spacing for consistent typographic balance.
Italics & Capitals: Use italics for emphasis and avoid all caps to maintain legibility.

Paragraph Spacing:

Automatically adds space above or below paragraphs, creating cleaner separation and a more professional look than using double line breaks.

Paragraph Indent:

Indents mark the beginning of a new paragraph and can add visual structure to the page.
Use either a first-line indent or paragraph spacing (not both); the standard indent equals the type size but may vary for design purposes.

Special Formatting:

Hyphens & Dashes: Use hyphens for word breaks and en/em dashes for ranges or pauses; avoid hyphenating headlines.
Line Breaks: Use Shift + Return for manual line breaks to maintain formatting.
Drop Caps: Use for chapter openings or special sections; avoid if not supported by the program.
Quotes: Use proper typographic (“smart”) quotes instead of straight typewriter quotes.
Sidebar: Supplementary text related to the main content; keep leading consistent with body text.

Week 1 (27/09/2025)

The Grid

Raster System:

A grid divides a layout into smaller, organized sections, promoting clarity, balance, and structure.
Reflects a systematic design approach that emphasizes functionality, precision, and visual harmony.

Purpose of the Grid:

Provide a structured framework that organizes visual elements for clarity, functionality, and easy understanding.

Modular:

A modular grid allows diverse layout combinations while keeping the design coherent.
In books, limited variation preserves clarity and helps organize text, images, and diagrams effectively.

Week 1 (27/09/2025)

Elements

Book:

All publications consist of 3 major elements held together by the format and grid:

Type
Colour
Image

Variation:

Maintain consistency by keeping core elements like typeface, colour, and image style fixed while varying their arrangement within the grid.
Use the grid to create engaging yet cohesive layouts, balancing repetition and surprise across pages.

ifc-inside front cover

bc-back cover

fc-front cover

ibc-inside back cover

pages always need to divided by 4

INSTRUCTIONS

TASK 1: EXERCISES

Week 1 (24/09/2025)

Requirements:

Watch the tutorial videos to guide you through each exercise.
Prepare a pencil, long ruler, A4 papers, and tape before starting the exercises.
Complete a series of exercises as outlined below:

Exercise 1: Mock-up Making
Exercise 2: Signature Folding Systems
Exercise 3: Van De Graff
Exercise 3A: Digitalise Van De Graff
Exercise 4: Form and Movement

Submissions:

All exercises must be documented and uploaded to your blog.

Progress:

Exercise Progress

Exercise 1: Mock-up Making

In this exercise, we explored different book sizes to find the ideal format for our design. I eventually decided on a 24 cm × 18.5 cm book size.

Figure E1.1: Mock-up Making, Week 2 (01/10/2025)

Exercise 2: Signature Folding Systems

In this exercise, we folded an A4 paper into eight sections and numbered each page, resulting in 16 pages in total. We also learned that when adding pages, the total must always be an even number. Lastly, we stapled the folded sheets together to form a small booklet.

Figure E2.1: Signature Folding Systems, Week 2 (01/10/2025)

Exercise 3: Van De Graff

In this exercise, we drew the Van de Graaf structure to understand the classical technique used in historical book design.

Figure E3.1: Van De Graff, Week 2 (01/10/2025)

Exercise 3A: Digitalise Van De Graff

We then digitised Van de Graaff using Adobe InDesign after analyzing and understanding its structure.

Figure E3A.1: Digitalise Van De Graff (PDF), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

Exercise 4: Form and Movement

1. Practice

Figure E4.1: Form and Movement - Practice (PDF), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

2. Black and White

Figure E4.2: Form and Movement - Black and White (PNG), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

Figure E4.3: Form and Movement - Black and White with Grid (PDF), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

Figure E4.4: Form and Movement - Black and White without Grid (PDF), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

3. Colour

Figure E4.5: Form and Movement - Colour (PNG), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

Figure E4.6: Form and Movement - Colour with Grid (PDF), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

Figure E4.7: Form and Movement - Colour without Grid (PDF), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

4. Colour + Images

Figure E4.8: Form and Movement - Colour + Images (PNG), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

Figure E4.9: Form and Movement - Colour + Images with Grid (PDF), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

Figure E4.10: Form and Movement - Colour + Images without Grid (PDF), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

5. Colour + Images + Text

Figure E4.11: Form and Movement - Colour + Images + Text (PNG), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

Figure E4.12: Form and Movement - Colour + Images + Text with Grid (PDF), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

Figure E4.13: Form and Movement - Colour + Images + Text without Grid (PDF), Week 3 (07/10/2025)

TASK 2: CONTENT GENERATION

Week 2 (01/10/2025)

Requirements:

Design and create a 32-page book that is smaller than A4 but larger than A5.
Follow the outline/framework that is provided in this task:

1) Writing:

Write 3000 words in English/Malay on a familiar topic, such as yourself, your family, someone who inspires you, your hometown, or a meaningful experience/belief/idea.
Include at least 3 chapters, 3 to 5 subtexts (sidebars/supporting content), and 1 caption per chapter.
You may use original writing, text from a credited source, or work with a real client if the project fits the criteria.

2) Visualisation:

After completing the writing, identify 16 areas in the text for visual interpretation.
Use any medium that suits the topic, such as illustration, photography, mixed media, or other creative approaches.

Submissions:

Notes

Progress:

Ideation

Week X (xx/xx/2025)

Final Submission of Task 2

Notes

FEEDBACKS

Week X (xx/xx/2025)

Specific Feedback: Notes

General Feedback: Notes

REFLECTIONS

Experience

Notes

Observation

Notes

Findings

Notes

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Khu Ying Ying (0357306)