Publishing Design / Task 3A

on

07/11/24 - 05/12/24 / Week 7 - Week 11

Sheren Princessa Davon / 0362134

Publishing Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Task 3A: Book

INSTRUCTIONS


Task 3A: Book

This task is the final part of the previous task where we created the content for our book, now we are to layout our final book. Below is the content already generated for my book in Task 2:

 
Fig. 1.1 Content Generation (Story) Formatted - PDF. Week 7 (07/11/24)

Fig. 1.2 Visuals Compiled - PDF. Week 7 (07/11/24)

Layout
As part of Task 1 Exercise 2, I chose 175mm x 250mm. I setup an InDesign document and adjusted my margins and columns. At first, I decided to use one column and started formatting all the layouts, however I felt like it was too repetitive and quite boring so I decided to explore different column layouts. 

Finally, I ended up using this:

Fig 1.3 Margins and Columns

I opted for a 2 column layout, read left to right per paragraph. This was a risky choice I ended up making as this format isn't quite commonly used in books, but I wanted to incorporate more whitespace in my book layout. In a way, the empty spaces between the text represent the gaps in my childhood which were left by the people I've written about in my story.

Fig 1.4 Layout process on InDesign

After showing Mr. Hijjaz my initial layout, I adjusted some of the alignment of the text. I utilized the baseline grid to ensure that the text from my different paragraphs were more aligned, to make it look less random and more cohesive.

Fig 1.5 Adjusting alignment with baseline grid

I edited the covers on Illustrator. At first, I created a yellow border around the cover, but I realized that since I would go for staple binding, I didn't think it would look the best/match that well, so I ended up removing the borders.
Fig 1.6 Cover on Illustrator

Fig 1.7 Cover Draft 1

Fig 1.8 Final Covers - JPG



Below are the final thumbnails and cover:

Fig 1.7 Final thumbnails 1 - JPG

Fig 1.8 Final thumbnails 2 - JPG
Fig 1.9 Final thumbnails 3 - JPG

Fig 1.10 Final Covers - JPG

Printing
At first, I contacted the 2 nearest print shops recommended by Mr. Hijjaz, however I didn't receive a reply from 1 and very slow responses from the other. Because I was running on a deadline and I was scared I couldn't get my prints on time, I decided to try another print shop near I live. I ended up going to ArchPrint and the printing process went quite smoothly. I was able to place my order through their website and I even got assistance from their WhatsApp chat.

However, their material choices were quite limited, so I ended up with:
- Cover: Artcard 260gsm with matte finishing 
- Content: Artpaper 128gsm with gloss finishing
- Staple binding

It costed me a total of 67.50RM since I had 40 pages and it took around 2 days to print. (See pages in Final Submission section)

Fig 1.11 Printed Book Cover

Final Submissions

Complete Thumbnail Layouts

Fig. 1.12 Final Thumbnails - PDF. Week 11 (05/12/24)

Fig 1.13 Final thumbnails 1 - JPG. Week 11 (05/12/24)

Fig 1.14 Final thumbnails 2 - JPG. Week 11 (05/12/24)
Fig 1.15 Final thumbnails 3 - JPG. Week 11 (05/12/24)

Printed Book
Fig 1.15 Printed Book Covers - JPG. Week 11 (05/12/24)

Fig 1.16 Printed Book Spreads- JPG. Week 11 (05/12/24)

Fig 1.17 Printed Book Spreads- JPG. Week 11 (05/12/24)

Fig 1.18 Printed Book Spreads- JPG. Week 11 (05/12/24)

Fig 1.19 Printed Book Spreads- JPG. Week 11 (05/12/24)

Fig 1.20 Printed Book Spreads- JPG. Week 11 (05/12/24)

Fig. 1.21 Book Flip through 

Final Spreads

Fig 1.22 Final Book Covers - PDF. Week 11 (05/12/24)

Fig 1.22 Final Spreads - PDF. Week 11 (05/12/24)





















Fig 1.23-1.42 Spreads - JPEG. Week 11 (05/12/24)

FlipHTML


FEEDBACK

Week 9
Layout is good, consistent, colors are also nice. Make sure to improve the alignment of some of the lines, esp those in the different columns. Remember to add bleed as well.

Week 11
Overall the book printing is okay, no issues with the paper material, but for the content papers if I had chosen a rougher textured paper would have a better feel. The illustrations could also be sharper (canvas size issues during illustration), column layout choice is quite unusual, hard time to get used to but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, it's good.

REFLECTION

I really enjoyed this task, it was the first time I'm creating a book layout of any sort and it was quite a smooth process since I've already done the content in the previous task. Exploration is a part of the design process and I'm glad I took the opportunity to try out different grid systems. Throughout this task, I learned the importance of layout and how illustrations play into storytelling, sometimes playing around with the margins or making the illustrations bigger can have a different effect to the overall pacing and vibe of the story.

I found that sizing and bleed is essential in printing, one small mishap can lead to a very noticeable mistake in the outcome. When I first went to the 2nd print shop, the worker told me that my page format was wrong and it should be single paged instead of spreads, I was a bit confused at first but I decided to trust them as they know what they are doing. And it turned out well, thus now I have a better understanding of printing. 

After printing, some of my illustrations came out a bit blurry, it turns out my canvas size wasn't big enough, it should be at least 4000px x 4000px according to Mr. Hijjaz. This is certainly something I need to take note of next time. This was my first experience of printing something professionally and this is only the beginning, though the overall experience did not go as planned, I was still able to get it done in time and that's what matters to me right now.


Comments

Post a Comment