Publishing Design - Project 1

28/08/20 - 02/10/20 (Week 1 - Week 6)

Jenani Raja Saker 0334331
Publishing Design
Project 1

---

LECTURE

 

 

 

 

---

INSTRUCTIONS

TASK 1 FORMATTING TEXT

Section 1 : 3000 words

 

Mr. Vinod briefed us on the module and told us that we will be starting our Project 1 simultaneously alongside our Exercises. We were to start thinking on the topic that we wanted to write about as the content should be around 3000 words to enable us to have 16 spreads or a number divisible by 6 or 4. The formatting of the text should be done accordingly and we can refer to the work of our seniors for extra guidance. Should we not want to write our text we could also refer to the internet and get any piece of text, however it would be tough to find a story or article that would meet exactly the word count required. 

I scoured the internet and as I was searching for references I came up with this idea of having a 'wayang kulit' concept for my illustrations. Hence, I wanted my text to resemble a story. I chose the Greek story of Hercules and the 12 Labors as I wanted to fuse the Western story with an Eastern method of storytelling. 

Figure 2.01 ; Wayang Kulit Reference for Illustration Style

Figure 2.02 ; Wayang Kulit Reference for Illustration Style

To much avail, I did not realise that it was too ambitious and I was going to fail miserably. Below is my first trial of getting the text formatted with the story of Hercules. Below is my first attempt of Text Formatting.

Heading into the process of illustrating, I begin to realise that this was not going to work, (refer to Section 2: Illustrations below) hence, I began writing about the experiences that shaped me as a person. Below is the FINAL text formatting with my new content. 

Section 2 : Illustrations

In my initial ideation process of the story of Hercules and the 12 Labors, below is the moodboard in which I intended to base my illustrations off.

 After trying to illustrate and failing, I decided to rewrite my text and began hunting for a more simple style of illustrating. I fell upon the following references below: 

Figure 2.03; Simple but thoughtful illustration reference

Figure 2.04; Introduction of one coloured element

Figure 2.05; Simple but thoughtful illustration reference

Figure 2.06; Simple but thoughtful illustration reference

Hence, I began starting the illustration process with the highlighted texts as prompts for my illustration. I introduced one coloured element into the illustration so as not to seem very monotonous but also to draw attention to a specific aspect that I wanted and for some visual dimension. Below are my complete set of Visuals.

Here are some of the process of photos : 

Figure 2.07; Process of Illustration

                                                  

Figure 2.08; Process of Illustration

Figure 2.09; Process of Illustration Compilation

FINAL ILLUSTRATION COMPILATION: 

Figure 2.10; Illustration 1 (Stalker eyes)

Figure 2.11; Illustration 2 (Multiple ethnicities)

Figure 2.12; Illustration 3 (Sexual Assault)

Figure 2.13; Illustration 4 (Universe within and without)

Figure 2.14; Illustration 5 (Who Am I?)

Figure 2.15; Illustration 6 (Perfect Balance)

Figure 2.16; Illustration 7 (Bushy Hair)

Figure 2.17; Illustration 8 (Elements from 3 Chapters, Page 1)

Figure 2.18; Illustration 9 (Elements from 3 Chapters, Page 2)

Figure 2.19; Illustration 10 (The Matrix)

Figure 2.20; Illustration 11 (Are We Connected?)

Figure 2.21; Illustration 12 (Weight of the World)

Figure 2.22; Illustration 13 (Dancing to the tune of an Invisible Piper)

Figure 2.23; Illustration 14 (Hothead)

Figure 2.24; Illustration 15 (Unity in Diversity)

Figure 2.25; Illustration 16 (Preface)

For the cover page of my book, I wanted to utilise the full page illustration of a self portrait as it holds significant meaning to the chapters of my book. At the same time, I didn't want to reveal the entire illustration as I wanted there to be an element of surprise when flipping through the pages of the book. 

Hence, Mr. Vinod suggested that I just include the right portion of the portrait to sort of give a transition from the cover to the back. 

Below is the final cover and back page as suggested by Mr Vinod as a spread.

Figure 2.26; Illustration 17 (Front Cover)

Figure 2.27; Illustration 18 (Back Cover)

FINAL JPEG AND PDF THUMBNAIL VISUALS

Figure 2.28; Final Thumbnail Visuals

---

FEEDBACK

Week 2
Specific Feedback
1. For my text formatting, Ive to be more aware on the Line break (Shift+Enter) in certain areas. I ought to fix that. General Feedback
1. Always update your eportfolio and the feedback sheet weekly.
2. References should be in APA format. 

Week 3
Specific Feedback:
1. Instead of illustrating completely, and literally, I can try an abstract version of it. Maybe just illustrate a part of the hand.
2. I have to be very observant of the textures and the line illustration of the buildings. It has to be a fine balance between detailed and simple. General Feedback:
1. Visuals can have 3 layers of detailing, (High Detailed), (Mid Detailed), and (Low Detailed)
2. Be smart and intuitive in designing or illustrating. A large chunk of what makes a book success is the visuals. Use Tara as a reference for her visuals and drawing in the attention and interest of the reader.

Week 4
Absent 

Week 5
Specific Feedback
1. "Well Done, Good Job, Excellent Work. Youre good to go." - Mr. Vinod (finally :,,)) General Feedback
1. Everytime we push back a week for the submission, we have less time to do our other project work.
2. We ought to make sure that the introduction, the first chapter's visuals are complete so that we can begin the first chapter, and first page.

---

REFLECTION

Experience

I was extremely pessimistic when approaching this Project. I was extremely doubtful of my abilities to illustrate. And it only worsened when I failed at the first attempt at illustrating. But as I explored other styles through research, I realised that it wasn't that I did not have any capabilities, they were just different. Once, able to find an appropriate style of illustration that was not as challenging to me, it was mostly smooth sailing from thereon. It also taught me to think a little more conceptually in terms of the way I illustrate. Tough, but with more practice it should be slightly easier and also a good practice in honing my creative thinking skills. 

Observation

I noticed that as much as the tool is important inn delivering something, the talent or the person acting behind it is equally if not more imperative. When attempting the illustrations, I was sort of in a defeated mode, thinking that maybe if I had the Procreate Application on the iPad, it would be much easier for me to illustrate or that I could do much better. (how sort of foolish now that I think about it haha.) But as soon, as I got out of that mentality and learned to use the tool that I already had, a Wacom tablet, I realised that the tool matters not at all as much as the effort. 

Findings

I found that even though most of the times, perseverance pays off big time , and even if you fail , constantly trying gets you there, it is also very important to know when to stop and admit that things just aren't working. Self-reflect with honesty and go about the process again, and things just might work out better. As the smartest man ever said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different outcome".

---

FURTHER READING

This book was a long read, not gonna lie but it taught me about the finer details of grid in Publishing Design especially in parts that I struggle with such as margins. The page above is an example of a badly portioned margin as well as a good one.