PUBLISHING DESIGN - Task 1:Exercise
Design Principles | Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
GCD61404 Publishing design
TABLE OF CONTENT
MODULE INFORMATION BRIEF (MIB)
LECTURE NOTE
Lecture 1: Format
For this lecture, the main focus is on books as a form of publishing. Publishing can include many things like newspapers, magazines, and other printed materials, but in this course we are looking more at how books are created, designed, and understood.
To me, a book is not just something with pages and a cover. It works like a container for knowledge, stories, memories, and records. Books help people keep information for a long time and pass it to others. Because of this, book design is not only about making the book look attractive. It is also about making sure the content is clear, readable, and suitable for its purpose.
A book designer needs to think about both the visual side and the practical side. Some important design skills include:
- Choosing suitable typography
- Using white space properly
- Arranging the layout clearly
- Understanding publishing software
- Knowing how readers will experience the book
Besides the technical part, the designer also needs to make decisions based on the audience. For example, the size of the book, the paper choice, and the binding method all depend on who the book is for and what kind of content it contains. A children’s book will need a different design compared to a textbook or an art book.
This lecture also connects book design with history and technology. I realised that whenever humans developed new materials or tools, the way they recorded information also changed.
In early civilizations like Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, writing was first used mainly for practical things such as counting and record-keeping. Before proper writing systems appeared, people used clay tokens. Later, this developed into Cuneiform, where wedge-shaped marks were pressed into soft clay tablets.
In South Asia, especially Nepal and nearby areas, people used palm leaf manuscripts to record texts as early as 800 BC. This shows that before modern paper, people already used natural materials to preserve written information.
In Egypt, writing was treated as an important and respected skill. It was usually done by scribes, who wrote hieroglyphics on papyrus, temple walls, and tomb walls. This makes me feel that writing at that time was not just communication, but also connected to status, religion, and culture.
In China, before paper was invented, people wrote on thin bamboo strips and tied them together with string. These bamboo strips could be folded or rolled, so they were like an early portable document.
Later, printing made a big difference in how knowledge was shared. Early printing used woodblocks, where each page had to be carved by hand in reverse. This method was useful, but also very slow because every page needed its own block.
Some important changes that happened later were:
- Movable type allowed characters to be reused.
- Korea improved movable type and made printing more efficient.
- Parchment became popular in Turkey and parts of Europe because it was durable.
- Paper-making technology spread from China to the Middle East and Europe.
- By the 1860s, wood pulp paper became widely used and became the basis of modern paper production.
Overall, my main takeaway from this lecture is that books are shaped by both design and technology. The format of a book depends not only on creativity, but also on materials, function, audience, and the technology available at that time.
Lecture 2: History of Print
This lecture talks about how printing developed over time. What I find interesting is that printing did not suddenly appear in one place. It slowly developed through different methods, materials, and cultures.
Before printing became more advanced, people already had ways to copy texts. In China, from around the 2nd to 8th century AD, Confucian texts were carved onto stone tablets. Scholars placed paper on top and rubbed charcoal or ink over the surface. The background became dark while the carved letters stayed white.
For me, this is quite interesting because it is like an old version of photocopying. It was not printing in the modern sense, but the purpose was similar, which was to reproduce written information.
Fig 1.5 Classics of Confucianism Carved in Stone
Another important stage happened in Korea and Japan around AD 750-768. Korea was one of the early pioneers of printing and had already started printing on single sheets of paper around AD 750.
In Japan, the Empress commissioned the Hyakumantō Darani, which were tiny prayer scrolls placed inside lucky charms. This is one of the earliest examples of woodblock printing in Japan. From this, we can see that early printing was often connected to religion and cultural practices.
The Diamond Sutra, printed in AD 868, is another major milestone. It is a long scroll, around 16 feet, made by joining sheets of paper together. It is important because it is considered the oldest surviving printed book, and it also includes a printed illustration.
This part shows that printing was not only used for words, but also for images. So even in early printing, text and visuals were already working together.
After woodblock printing, the next big improvement was movable type. Woodblock printing was useful, but it had one big problem: every page had to be carved by hand. This took a lot of time, and if there was a mistake, it was difficult to change.
Movable type helped solve this problem because individual characters could be arranged and reused. This made printing more flexible and efficient.
Key developments in movable type:
- China first experimented with movable type using clay and pottery.
- Korea later improved it by creating bronze movable type around 1380.
- Bronze was stronger and could be reused many times.
- In 1443, Korea introduced its own alphabet to make reading and printing easier.
- Compared to Chinese characters, the new alphabet was easier to learn and reproduce.
The final part of the lecture focuses on Europe. By the 1400s, woodblock printing had already spread there and was used mainly for religious images and playing cards.
The major change came when Johannes Gutenberg developed the movable-type printing press in the 1440s. His contribution was not only the press itself, but also the way he produced precise metal letters. This made book production much faster and cheaper.
Because of Gutenberg’s printing press, books became more accessible, and ideas could spread more easily across Europe. I think this is one of the biggest turning points because printing started to affect education, religion, and society in a much wider way.
TASK 1
TEXT FORMATTING
MOCK-UP MAKING
I tested a few possible book sizes for my mock-up. The requirement was to create a book size smaller than A4 but bigger than A5, so I first marked the A5 size as a reference.
SIGNATURE FOLDING SYSTEMS
In class, i did a few hands-on exercises directly during the lesson. I started with the signature folding system, where I folded an A3 paper into a small booklet with 16 pages. After folding, I marked the page number on every page, so I could check the front and back printing arrangement and make sure the page sequence was correct before printing.
I used the same chosen book size in InDesign to create my own classical grid structure. I set up the document based on 17.5 cm × 23.5 cm, then added margins, guides, and diagonal lines to build the grid for my book layout.
FEEDBACK
Week 4 - absent
Week 3
Specific Feedback：
The lecturer suggested that I should explore different ways of presenting the images rather than applying effects too directly. Similar to the reference examples, handwritten notes, sketches, textures, or other mixed-media elements can be added to enhance the visual appearance. The lecturer encouraged me to experiment with different combinations and creative techniques to achieve a more interesting and expressive design outcome.
General Feedback：
At this stage, it is important to continue exploring visual styles and image treatments. Designers should analyse relevant references and experiment with different ways of combining photographs, graphics, textures, and typography. Through continuous testing and refinement, stronger visual communication and more engaging layouts can be achieved.
Week 2
General Feedback:
This week focused more on layout and typography. We learnt about text arrangement, spacing, and how font size relates to readability. We were reminded to complete the mock-up exercises and start developing our book layout. We also need to begin creating our visuals, experiment with different ideas, and avoid making them too literal. Consistency in layout and overall design direction is important.
Week 1
General Feedback:
This week was mainly about understanding the assignment and course structure. We were introduced to basic publishing concepts and did some exercises using InDesign. We also started thinking about our book size and overall direction.
Specific Feedback:
We were asked to start writing our 3000 words and begin planning our mood boards, including visuals, typography, layout, and colours. The lecturer reminded us not to make our visuals too literal and to explore more conceptual ideas.
REFLECTION
Experience
In Task 1, I explored the technical foundations of book design through mock-up making, signature folding, and grid construction. I tested several book sizes before choosing 17.5 cm × 23.5 cm, as it provided a balanced space for text and images. I also folded an A3 sheet into a 16-page booklet and numbered each page to understand the printing sequence. After that, I constructed a classical grid in InDesign using margins, guides, and diagonal lines.
Observations
I noticed that book size affects both the visual layout and the reader’s physical experience. The signature-folding exercise initially felt confusing because the printed page order differs from the reading order. However, working with a physical mock-up made the process easier to understand. I also observed that a grid creates consistency without completely limiting creativity.
Based on the lecturer’s feedback, my early visual treatments were too direct and needed more experimentation. Combining photographs with handwritten elements, sketches, textures, and typography could make the design more expressive.
Findings
This task taught me that successful publishing design requires both technical planning and creative exploration. Mock-ups are important because they reveal problems that may not be visible on screen. I also learned that grids, page sequencing, and format must be planned before developing the final layouts. In future, I will test more visual approaches and make my imagery less literal.
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