Publishing Design / Task 3A Book Printing

on

14  / 11 / 2024 — 8 / 12 / 2024 (Week 08 — Week 11)

Kim Seoyoon / 0357755

GCD 61404 / Publishing Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Task 3A / Book Printing

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lectures 

Instructions

Task 3 Process

Final Submission

Feedback

Reflection

LECTURES

Week 9 Lecture

Types of Printing Process

1. Digital Printing
  • Printed using a large format / high volume laser or inkjet printers
  • Higher cost per page than more traditional offset printing methods
  • Allos for on-demand printing, short turnaround time & modification on the page
2. Letterpress Printing
  • Produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous paper roll. 
  • Oldest of the traditional printing techniques and remained the only important one from the time of Gutenberg (1450)
3. Offset Printing
  • A process which uses an etched thin, flexible metal plate that fits a curved cylinder. 
  • The inked image is transferred from the plate to a revolving rubber-covered cylinder, which in turn transfers the image to the paper/ board.
  • Uses CMYK & spot colours
    Advantages
  • Consistent high image quality– sharper and cleaner than most printing process
  • Usability on a wide range of printing surfaces
  • Quick and easy production of printing plates
4. Die Cut Printing
5. Embossed Printing
6. Foil Stamping


Choosing Paper

1. News Paper
  • Usually easy by choosing newsprint sheets, only need to choose once.
2. Magazine
  • Faces a much wider choice of paper stocks
  • Needs to make a choice on the paper, and at least for a while stick with it for a few years. 
  • Book Paper, Bond Paper
3. Book


Four considerations in choosing paper

1. The look of the paper
  • Brightness, colours and texture to match the mood of the publication
  • The whiteness of the paper is important if the publication contains a lot of photographs
  • Coated glossy best display photographs
2. The feel of the paper
3. The suitability of the paper
  • Offset printing needs paper stock that can adapt to the dampness of the process.
  • Letterpress needs a paper stock that is not too crisp.
4. The cost of the paper


Week 10 Tutorial / Interactivity Tool on Adobe InDesign

1. Insert playable video to layout
2. Convert elements to Buttons
3. Assign pages to buttons
4. convert file to e-book format
5. Create a flip e-book

Fig 1.1 Applying button navigation on InDesign, Week 10

INSTRUCTION

Module Information Booklet

Task 3(A) – Book Printed (15%)

Timeframe: Week 08 – Week 10 (Deadline Week 11)

Submission Requirements:

  1. Complete Thumbnail Layout – attach pdf and jpeg
  2. Final Book Printout – attach several views of the book’s exterior and interior
  3. A video of the book – attach a YouTube video
  4. Complete final spreads
  5. A Flipbook via FlipHTML 

TASK 3A PROCESS

Week 08 / Initial Layout Design
For task 3A, we were instructed to create a book composition using the content generated from the previous task. Here is the story write-up with 16 illustrations that will be used for my book:

Fig 2.1 Story, Week 7

Fig 2.2 16 Illustrations, Week 7

For the book size and grid structure, I referred back to the decisions I've made from Task 1 Exercises. I set my document size as (245*180mm) and I made some changes to the grid structure for this task as I thought using one column would be more suitable for my book design.

Book size Testing from Task 1

Fig 2.3 Initial layout designs, Week 08


Week 09 / Final Layout Design Check & Adjustment
In week 9, I checked my final spread layout designs with Mr Hijjaz before printing the book. Mr Hijjaz also advised adding some design motifs to some pages to enhance the flow of storytelling and reading. I also increased the kerning of my body texts as they felt too complex when viewed from a reading distance. 

Fig 2.4 Before and After Adjustments, Week 9

Final layout designs (Thumbnails):

Fig 2.5 Thumbnail Layout (JPEG), Week 9

Fig 2.6 Thumbnail Layout 2 (JPEG), Week 9

Mr Hijjaz also recommended some printing stores for book publication:
  • Mummydesign Print 
  • Angel Print
  • Lap Soon 
  • Achik Printing Taman Melawat
  • Print Expert Bangi

Week 10 / Book Printing Week
In week 10, I contacted Mummydesign Print to request my printing order. I used Maple paper (100gsm) for the inner pages and Raster White paper (300gsm) for the cover page. 

I think Maple paper itself is matte but it still managed to pull out the glossy effect on the printed surfaces. I also chose a textured paper for the cover to differentiate the cover from the inner pages. 

It was a little harder to choose the right paper material for my book because Mummydesign only accepts online orders, but I'm satisfied with how the print turned out. However, I feel that the overall quality would have been enhanced if I used another binding type like stitch bind or perfect binding.

The total printing cost was around RM63.

Fig 2.7 Book Print Samples, Week 10

Week 11 / E-Book (FlipHTML 5)

In week 11, before submitting our works, Mr Hijjaz instructed us to create an e-book version of our book on Flip HTML 5. The overall process was simple as I just needed to upload a PDF version of my book to the website and adjust several settings such as flipping sounds, flip tool themes etc. 

Fig 2.8 E-book Samples on Flip HTML 5, Week 11

FINAL SUBMISSION

Below are compilation of my final submission of Task 3A (Book Printing):

1. Complete Thumbnail Layout (PDF & JPEG)

Fig 3.1 Thumbnail Layout (JPEG), Week 11

Fig 3.2 Thumbnail Layout 2 (JPEG), Week 11

Fig 3.3 Thumbnail Layout (PDF), Week 11


2. Final Book Printout 


Fig 3.4 Book Front & Back Cover, Week 11


Fig 3.5 Some sample pages of book interior, Week 11


3. Flip-through Video


Fig 3.6 Flip-through Video, Week 11

Link to YouTube: https://youtu.be/0bFnageTRQs


4. Complete final spreads

Fig 3.7 Complete Final Spreads (JPEG), Week 11

Fig 3.8 Complete Final Spreads (PDF), Week 11


5. A Flipbook via FlipHTML 

Fig 3.9 FlipHTML Previews, Week 11



FEEDBACK

Week 9
  • The overall composition looks good, but try to increase the kerning to reduce complexity in text paragraphs. 
  • Add some design motifs on the corners of some pages so that there is a balance between the positive and negative space in the layout.
  • Reduce font size in contents, and add page numbers.
Week 10
  • The overall printed book looks good, make sure to document every step of the progress in the blog with elaborations. (Decision making)
Week 11

  • Do ensure it has all these components for final documentation for Task 3(A)

  1. Complete Thumbnail Layout – attach pdf and jpeg
  2. Final Book Printout – attach several views of the book’s exterior and interior
  3. A video of the book – attach a YouTube video
  4. Complete final spreads
  5. A Flipbook via FlipHTML

  • Deadline: Sunday 8/12/2024 11:59pm

REFLECTION

Experience
Task 3 was a continuation task from the previous two tasks, allowing me to focus and keep track of my progress in book design. I had several options of grid styles to explore through the layout designs and by doing this, I was able to come up with a suitable grid structure that fits with my visuals and storytelling.

Observation
After laying out the overall composition of my book design, I made sure that the kerning and tracking were smooth to not interrupt the whole reading flow. Looking at thumbnail versions of my book pages was also helpful in viewing my book's overall flow and seeing how the movement & flow of these compositions work with my storytelling & visuals. 

Findings
From adjusting compositional designs on my book pages, I learned that sizing and placing of the visual matters heavy in determining the conveyance of storytelling with the contents, as for example, I initially placed regular-sized illustrations on some pages (did not fill up the whole page) but increasing their sizes helped me to emphasize and deliver a stronger feeling of visualization of my story to the readers. Completing this series of book-making tasks also allowed me to realize it takes a lot more attention and effort to publish a book, including deciding the sizing of the book from the beginning till the printing of it at the end. This was my very first time publishing a book and it was overall a fun experience. The new knowledge gained from the overall experience would also be valuable for my future work & projects. 

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