Publishing Design/Task 1

April 03, 2023

Publishing Design/Task 1

03/04/2023~15/05/2023 (Week 01~Week07)

Henry Lim Chin Xin

0349490

Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Publishing Design/Task 1-Exercises

Lectures:

Lecture 01: Formats

Historical Formats of the book across time in different civilizations around the world

Iran-Iraq=Mesopotamian civilizations

Egypt=Ancient Egyptian civilization

India-Pakistan-Afghanistan=Indus Valley civilization

China=Han Chinese civilization

Europe(Turkey &Beyond)=European civilization

Innovation almost always shadows technology. New technology creates opportunity. If the technology has potency, it would have a cascading effect on other areas of life.

Fig 1.1 Half World Map

Mesopotamian Civilizations

For Mesopotamia Denise Schmandt-Besserat (1995) contends in her essay on the token system "Record Keeping Before Writing," that "it is remarkable that the first writing system developed from a counting technology."

The progression from simple and complex tokens to bullae set the stage for the early form of pictographic writing on clay tablets.

Fig 1.2 Mesopotamian Clay Tokens

Fig 1.3 3000BC Cuneiform

Fig 1.4 Letter in Sumerian cuneiform, c. 2400 BC, found in Girsu

Indus Valley Civilizations

In the Indus River Valley Civilizations (Harappan & Mohenjodaro) there is not much known about record keeping but we do know they had a complex system. Their writing, cuneiform, was one of the earliest systems of writing. They wrote records about their government, religion, and trade. Cuneiform was written on soft clay tablets by using sharp pointed tools.

Ancient Egyptian Civilizations

The scribes were the only people in ancient Egypt that could read and write Hieroglyphics. The Egyptian scribes wrote on a special type of paper called papyrus. In addition to writing on papyrus the Egyptians also would write on the tomb walls.

The word papyrus refers to a thick type of paper made from the pith of the papyrus plant (Cyperus papyrus).

Han Chinese Civilizations

Chinese characters in the early period are written in vertical columns, so a thin strip of bamboo is ideal for a single column. To create a longer document, two lines of thread link each bamboo strip to its neighbor. The modern Chinese character for a book evolves from a pictogram of bamboo strips threaded together.

An imperial court eunuch by the name of Cai Lun submitted a report in 105 CE of a new substance.

The first printed book: Diamond Sutra 868 CE

The earliest known printed book in Chinese, from the end of the Tang dynasty. Discovered in a cave at Dunhuang in 1899, it is a precisely dated document. It is in a scroll format and using paper. Paper was invented in 179-41 BCE.

Chinese publishing: 10th - 11th century

Printing from wood blocks, as in the Diamond Sutra, is a laborious process. Yet the Chinese printers work wonders. In the 10th and 11th centuries all the Confucian classics are published for the use of scholar officials, together with huge numbers of Buddhist and Daoist works (amounting to around 5000 scrolls of each) and the complete Standard Histories since the time of Sima Qian.

The carving of so many characters in reverse on wood blocks is an enormous investment of labour, but the task is unavoidable until the introduction of movable type. This innovation, once again, seems to have been pioneered in China but achieved in Korea.

European Civilizations

Parchment was first invented in Turkey, 197-159BC, which later spread too Europe. Parchment is made from animal hide. With papyrus and bamboo one could make scrolls but with leather this was not possible as it was to thick and heavy. Around 50 AD, Europeans started making parchment books.

The use of paper would make it slow journey to west, from China to Persia-Arab empires and eventually through Turkey vis-a-vis the Ottoman empire to mainland Europe.

Paper becomes widely available in Europe during 1400-1500CE. The ingredient to make paper changes until 1860s when wood pulp is first used to print the Boston Weekly Journal.

While paper made its journey relatively late, the folding format started to take a foot hold in 'the west' at the turn of the country. First with wooden blocks with thread sewn to hold them together and then with parchment and later with paper, where paper was sewn, bound and glued together.

Lecture 02: History of Print

2nd - 8th century AD

The emperor of China commands, in AD 175, that the six main classics of Confucianism carved in stone.

Confucian scholars eager to own these important texts simply lay sheets of paper on the engraved slabs and rub all over it with charcoal or graphite taking away a text in white letters on a black ground.

Korean and Japan: AD 750-768

The invention of printing is a striking achievement of Buddhists in east Asia. Korea takes the lead. The world's earliest known printed document is a sutra printed on a single sheet of paper in Korea in AD 750.

This is closely followed in Japan by a bold experiment in mass circulation. In AD 768, in devoutly Buddhist Nara, the empress commissions a huge edition of a lucky charm or prayer. It is said that the project takes six years to complete and that the number of copies printed, for distribution to pilgrims, is a million. Many have survived.

The Hyakumanto Darani literally the One Million Pagodas & Dharani Prayers, is a famous large-scale woodblock printing, the earliest recorded uses of woodblock printing in Japan.

The first printed book: AD 868

The earliest known printed book is Chinese, from the end of the Tang dynasty. Discovered in a cave at Dunhuang in 1899, it is a precisely dated document which brings the circumstances of its creation vividly to life.

It is a scroll, 16 feet and a foot high, formed of sheets of paper glued together at their edges. The text is that of the Diamond Sutra, and the first sheet in the scroll has an added distinction. It is the world's first printed illustration, depicting an enthroned Buddha surrounded by holy attendants.

Chinese publishing: 10th-11th century

Movable type: from the 11th century

Movable type (separate ready-made characters or letters which can be arranged in the correct order for a particular text and then reused) is a necessary step before printing can become an efficient medium for disseminating information.

The concept is experimented with in China as early as the 11th century. But two considerations make the experiment unpractical. One is that the Chinese script has so many characters that type-casting and type-setting become too complex. The other is that the Chinese printers cast their characters in clay and then fire them as pottery, a substance too fragile for the purpose.

Type foundry in Korea: c.1380

In the late 14th century, several decades before the earliest printing in Europe, the Koreans establish a foundry to cast movable type in bronze. Unlike earlier Chinese experiments with pottery, bronze is sufficiently strong for repeated printing, dismantling and resetting for a new text.

The Koreans at this time are using Chinese script, so they have the problem of an unwieldy number of characters. They solve this in 1443 by inventing their own national alphabet, known as hangul. By one of the strange coincidences of history, this is precisely the decade in which Gutenberg is experimenting with movable type far away in Europe, which has enjoyed the advantage of an alphabet for more than 2000 years.

Saints and playing cards: AD c.1400

In about 1400, more than six centuries after its invention in the east, the technique of printing from wood blocks introduced in Europe. As in the east, the images are printed by the simple method of laying a piece of paper on a carved and inked block and then rubbing its back to transfer the ink. The main market is holy images for sale to pilgrims. Playing cards are another early part of the western trade.

Later in the 15th century, technical advances are made in Germany which rapidly transform printing from a cottage industry to a cornerstone of western civilization.

Gutenberg & western printing: AD 1439 - 1457

The name of Gutenberg first appears, in connection of printing, in a law case in Strasbourg in 1439. He is being sued by two of Gutenberg's stock, describe a press and a supply of metal type. It sounds as though he is already capable of printing small items of text from movable type, and it seems likely that he must have done so in Strasbourg. But nothing from this period survives.

By the time he is next heard of in connection with printing, he is in Mainz. He borrows 800 guilders in 1450 from Johann Fust with his printing equipment as security. The resulting story of Gutenberg and Fust is a sage in itself.

Gutenberg's great achievement in the story of printing has several components. One is his development of printing press, capable of applying a rapid but steady downward pressure. The concept of the press is not new.

More significant are Gutenberg's skills with metal (his original trade is that of a goldsmith). These enable him to master the complex stages in the manufacture of individual pieces of type, which involve crating a master copy of each letter, devising the moulds in which multiple versions can be cast, and developing a suitable alloy ( type metal) in which to cast them.

All this skillful technology precedes the basic work of printing - that of arranging the individual letters, aligned and well spaced, in a form which will hold them firm and level to transfer the ink evenly to the paper.

No date appears in the Gutenberg Bible (known technically as the 42-line Bible), which was printed simultaneously on six presses during the mid-1450s. But at least one copy is known to have been completed, with its initial letters colored red by hand, by 24 August 1456. The first dated book from these same presses, in 1457 is even more impressive. Known as the Mainz Psalter, it achieves outstanding color printing in its two-color initial letters.

The rest is History!

Many inventions to improve on the printing press and its quality was invented on modified over the years.

The industrial revolution brought in precision engineering and the printing press was one that benefited tremendously.

The World's Largest Book

The world's largest book stands upright, set in stone, in the grounds of the Kuthodaw pagoda (kuthodaw, "royal merit") at the foot of Mandalay Hill in Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma)."

Each stone tablet has its own roof and precious gem on top in a small cave-like structure (Stupa), there are a total of 729 stupas and they are arranged around a central golden pagoda.

Conclusion

Paper was invented in China 179-41 BCE. It is probably one of the most important ingredients in the process of printing.

Transfer was initially done via rubbing (stone to paper), hence mass production was enabled. The earliest printed document was in Korea, wood block printing in Korea & Japan takes place around 750-768 CE, text carved into wooden blocks. These were great achievements of the Buddhist era.

The introduction of movable type was introduced in the 1000-1100 CE. This innovation was pioneered in China but achieved in Korea (Diamond Sutra). In the late 1300-1399 CE, several decades before the earliest printing in Europe ( Gutenberg's bible 1439), the Koreans establish a foundry to cast movable type in bronze.

Lecture 03: Typo Redux

Typography

Typography is to a graphic designer, what oxygen is to a living being. It is 'the' most important area in graphic design to master, for you to acquit yourself with good standard.

Typography is the art of arranging and composing text, it is also a medium for expression and most importantly communication. It plays a central role in any design work.

In book design, needless to say that the understanding and sense developed in the last two semesters in typography will play a crucial role in the output.

Characters in a typeface

Small caps

Numerals

Fractions

Ligatures

Punctuations

Mathematical signs

Symbols

Non aligning figures

Lecture 04: The Grid

Lecture 05: Elements

Instructions:

Fig 2.1 Module Information Booklet

Exercise 1: Text Formatting

We are required to write or source 3000 words for our books.

Below is the content:

Fig 3.1 Exercise 1:Text Formatting PDF

Exercise 2: Mock Up-Book Size

In this week, we made the book size with actual papers in class.

The purpose of this exercise is decide the book size for our book.

I tried three sizes which is

W: 157mm, H: 225mm
W: 180mm, H: 240mm
W: 200mm, H: 250mm

Fig 4.1 Book Size Explorations

And the final size I choose is W: 180mm, H: 240mm.

Fig 4.2 180 x 240mm Book Size

For the binding, I try something different from binding from stapler, I used rubber bands. The image below is what I have tried.

Fig 4.3 Frist Try of Binding

The effect of binding shown in image below is what I imitate on.

Fig 4.4 Example Binding

Exercise 3: Signature Folding Systems (8+8=16)

In this exercise, our lecturer explains that books are made from 16 pages and pages taht can be divided by 16, not pages that are 35 pages or 71 pages.