Publication design

The evolution of publication designA N T O I N E R I V A R D

What is a publication?

The beginning

Manuscripts

Wood block pringting

Moveable type

Publication in the modern world

Type design and publication

Historic classification of type

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Contents

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The evolution of publication design

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TO PUBLISH IS TO MAKE CONTENT

PUBLICALY KNOWN. The term is most

frequently applied to the distribution of text

or images on paper. It must be published

on paper, the publication must be generally

available and the date of publication is the

date the published material became generally

available. Among publications are books,

and periodicals, the latter usually including

magazines, journals, and newspapers.

A book is a set or collection of written,

printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of

paper, parchment, or other material, usually

fastened together to hinge at one side. A single

sheet within a book is called a leaf, and each

side of a leaf is called a page.

The various elements that contribute to the

production of magazines vary wildly. Core

elements such as publishing schedules, formats

and target audiences are seemingly infinitely

variable. Typically, magazines which focus

primarily on current events. The Miehle printing press and manufacturing co-operation 1905

What is a publication?

“Among publications are books, and periodicals, the latter including magazines, journals, and newspapers”

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Although similar to a magazine in some

respects, an academic periodical featuring

scholarly articles written in a more specialist

register is usually called an “academic journal”.

Such publications typically carry little or no

advertising. Articles are vetted by referees or

a board of esteemed academics in the subject

area. The whole process is rapid.

A newspaper is a publication containing news,

information, and advertising. General-interest

newspapers often feature articles on political

events, crime, business, art/entertainment,

society and sports. Supplementary sections

may contain advertising, comics, and coupons.

Newspapers are most often published on a

daily or weekly basis, and they usually focus on

one particular geographic area where most of

their readers live. Despite recent setbacks in

circulation and profits, newspapers are still the

most iconic outlet for news and other types of

written journalism. Because their contents vary

greatly from day to day, newspapers usually

have very complicated grid structures. A photo of newpaper type-settingUsed by Benjamin Franklin in 1725

An inscription found on the base of Trajan’s column

“Despite the recent setbacks in circulation and profits, newspapers are the most iconic outlet for news”

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ALPHABETIC WRITING EMERGED IN

EGYPT AROUND 1800 BC. When writing

systems were invented in ancient civilizations,

nearly everything that could be written upon

- stone, clay, tree bark, and metal sheets - was

used for writing. Papyrus, a thick paper-like

material made by weaving the stems of the

papyrus plant, then pounding the woven sheet

with a hammer like tool, was used for writing

in Ancient Egypt. Papyrus sheets were glued

together to form a scroll.

It is believed that the Phoenicians brought

writing and papyrus to Greece around the

tenth or ninth century BC. Whether made

from papyrus, parchment, or paper in East

Asia, scrolls were the dominant form of

book in the Hellenistic, Roman, Chinese and

Hebrew cultures.

The more modern codex book format form

took over the Roman world by late antiquity,

but the scroll format persisted much longer

in Asia. Papyrus scrolls were still dominant in

the first century AD. A codex (Latin for block

of wood) is a book in the format used for

modern books, with separate pages normally

bound together and given a cover. It was a

Roman invention that replaced the scroll.

This change happened gradually during the

third and fourth centuries, and the reasons

for adopting the codex form of the book are

several: the format is more economical, as

both sides of the writing material can be used;

and it is portable, searchable, and easy to

conceal.

Wax tablets were the normal writing material

in schools, in accounting, and for taking notes.

They had the advantage of being reusable:

the wax could be melted, and reformed into

a blank. The custom of binding several wax

tablets together is a possible precursor for

modern books. The etymology of the word

codex (block of wood) also suggests that it may

have developed from wooden wax tablets.

From the first page of codex Argenteus

The beginning

“It is believed that the Phoenicians brought writing and papyrus to Greece”

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THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

IN THE FIFTH CENTURY A.D. SAW

THE DECLINE OF THE CULTURE OF

ANCIENT ROME. Papyrus became difficult

to obtain due to lack of contact with Egypt,

and parchment, which had been used for

centuries, became the main writing material.

Monasteries carried on the Latin writing

tradition in the Western Roman Empire, and

they stressed the importance of copying texts.

The clergy were the predominant readers of

books. The tradition and style of the Roman

Empire still dominated, but slowly the peculiar

medieval book culture emerged.

Before the invention and adoption of the

printing press, almost all books were copied

by hand, which made books expensive and

comparatively rare. The bookmaking process

was long and laborious. The parchment had

to be prepared, and then the unbound pages

were planned and ruled with a blunt tool

or lead, after which the text was written by

the scribe, who usually left blank areas for

illustration. Finally, the book was bound by

the bookbinder. Different types of ink were

usually prepared from soot and gum, and later

also from gall nuts and iron vitriol. This gave

writing a brownish black colour, but black or

brown were not the only colours used. The

first publications used parchment or vellum

(calf skin) for the pages. The covers were

made of wood and covered with leather.

Because dried parchment tends to assume

the form it had before processing, the books

were fitted with clasps or straps. Irish monks

introduced spacing between words sometime

in the seventh century.

An Armenian manuscript

Manuscripts

“It is believed that the Phoenicians brought writing and papyrus to Greece”

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IN WOODBLOCK PRINTING, A RELIEF

IMAGE OF AN ENTIRE PAGE WAS

CARVED INTO BLOCKS OF WOOD.

They were then inked, and used to print

copies of that page. This method originated

in China, in the Han dynasty (before 220AD),

as a method of printing on textiles and later

paper, and was widely used throughout East

Asia.

The method (called Woodcut when used

in art) arrived in Europe in the early 14th

century. Publications (known as block-books),

as well as playing-cards and religious pictures,

began to be produced by this method.

Creating an entire book was a painstaking

process, requiring a hand-carved block for

each page; and the wood blocks tended to

crack, if stored for long.

Printed in Seoul, Korea in 1438

Wood block printing

“The method arrived in Europe in the early 14th century”

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IN MOVEABLE TYPE CAST, IN CLAY

AND HELD IN PLACE BY A METAL

FORM, WAS INVENTED IN CHINA

AROUND 1040. Koreans were casting type

in metal and printing books this way by the

end of the fifteenth century. The invention

of movable type was not seen as a significant

discovery by the countries of the Far East.

China, Korea, and Japan all lack an alphabet

since their written language consists of over

forty thousand separate symbols. It was the

alphabet as it existed in Western languages

that gave movable type such an important

place in the history of printing in the West.

Around 1450, in what is commonly regarded

as an independent invention, Johannes

Gutenberg invented movable type in Europe,

along with innovations in casting the type

based on a matrix and hand mould. This

invention along with the impact of the

industrial revolution gradually made books

less expensive to produce, and more widely

available. Compared to woodblock printing,

movable type page setting was quicker and

more durable for alphabetic scripts. The

metal type pieces were more durable and

the lettering was more uniform, leading to

typography and fonts. The high quality and

relatively low price of the Gutenberg Bible

(1455) established the superiority of movable

type, and printing presses rapidly spread

across Europe, leading up to the Renaissance.

Metal moveable type

Moveable type

“Moveable type page setting was quicker and more durable”

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STEAM-POWERED PRINTING PRESSES

BECAME POPULAR IN 1800. These

machines could print 1,100 sheets per hour,

but workers could only set 2,000 letters per

hour. Monotype and linotype presses were

introduced in the late 19th century. They

could set more than 6,000 letters per hour and

an entire line of type at once.

The methods used for the printing and

binding of books continued fundamentally

unchanged from the 15th century into the

early years of the 20th century. While there

was of course more mechanization, Gutenberg

would have had no difficulty in understanding

what was going on if he had visited a book

printer in 1900.

Gutenberg’s “invention” was the use of

movable metal types, assembled into

words, lines, and pages and then printed

by letterpress. In letterpress printing, ink is

spread onto the tops of raised metal type, and

is transferred onto a sheet of paper which is

pressed against the type.

Today most publications are printed by offset

lithography in which an image of the material

to be printed is photographically or digitally

transferred to a flexible metal plate where it

is developed to exploit the antipathy between

grease (the ink) and water. When the plate is

mounted on the press, water is spread over it.

The developed areas of the plate repel water

thus allowing the ink to adhere to only those

parts of the plate which are to print. The ink is

offset onto a rubbery blanket (to avoid all that

water soaking the paper) and then finally to the

paper. Recent developments in publications

include the development of digital printing.

Publication in the modern world

“Gutenberg would have had no difficulty in understanding what was going on”

A page out of the Guternberg bible, a newer cheaper alternative

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TYPE IS ONE OF THE PUBLICATION

DESIGNER’S MOST IMPORTANT

TOOLS. Type is everywhere. It was the

development of printing, the discovery of

moveable type, and the invention of paper

and improvements in paper quality which

allowed type design to flourish. Two main

classifications of type are “serif” and “sans

serif”.

The serif helps the reader’s eye distinguish

individual letters while providing visual

continuity across words. Stroke width is

variable, thereby creating more visual cues

for the reader. Where continuous reading is

required, a serif typeface is usually preferred

over sans-serif. Serif is the oldest style of

type. The black letter style of type used by

Gutenberg, was, very loosely speaking, a serif

font.

“Sans” means “without”. It was originally

introduced by the English type designer

William Caslon in 1816. Because the English

thought that it looked primitive compared

to serif type, it became known as “gothic,”

meaning barbarous or primitive.

It wasn’t until over a hundred years later

that the Bauhaus school of design in 1919

popularized sans serif type design. Stroke

width is consistent, which gives it a clean and

modern look particularly fitting for Bauhaus

design. Sans serif is geometric with a strong

vertical stress. There is a higher contrast

between plain and bold.

Type design and publication

“Where continuous reading is required, a serif typeface is preferred over sans-serif”

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THERE ARE A NUMBER OF HISTORIC

TYPE CLASSIFICATIONS, ALL OF

WHICH FALL UNDER EITHER

THE “SERIF” OR “SANS-SERIF”

CLASSIFICATION. Classical or venetian

roman typefaces from the late fifteenth

century were initially designed to imitate the

handwriting of Italian Renaissance scholars.

These typefaces originated as book type and,

because of their clarity and legibility, are still

being used for that purpose.

The transitional phase was during the

eighteenth century. For the first time, type

designers began to use complex mathematical

formulas as part of their design process.

This period was transitional in that it used

elements from the both “oldstyle” designs

and the modern (Didone). Some of the best

known type designers were active during this

period. William Caslon based his designs on

seventeenth century Dutch type and his work

is still very much in use. John Baskerville, an

admirer of Caslon’s work, designed what is

today one of the most popular English book

Both Caslon’s and Baskerville’s designs have

consistently and successfully been used for

text-extensive situations, usually as books

because of their regularity and precision.

Modern type is characterized by its emphasis

on strong verticals and fine hairlines, which

creates a strong visual contrast on the page.

In France, during the late eighteenth

century, the Didot family took advantage

of improvements in paper production,

composition, and printing which allowed

for these refinements in type design. The

Italian printer Bodoni took these refinements

further, developing numerous versions of his

designs, and they quickly became popular

throughout Europe. He increased the strength

of his verticals and made hairlines even

thinner, making them especially well suited

to headings, title pages, and other situations

where a heavy, yet elegant, style is desired.

Later, humanist typefaces incorporated some

features of serif types, such as a slighly more

varied stroke than is typical of sans serif type.

Slab serif typefaces, have strong, square,

finishing strokes, and were first used in the

early nineteenth century for advertising

posters, flyers, and broadsides.

Historic classification of type

“Type designers began to use complex and mathematical formulae”

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Garamond ligature

Publication design

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