06 Jan 2017 — More on design, binding, and…some packaging (just as a start)!

From Nuphap Aunyanuphap to Silviã Lãnfrãnchi

Ciao Silvia!

Thanks alot for your reply and comments from the previous post.

As we’ve recently discussed, since we are going to work and meet (physically) more now on, we are going to change our format of discussion here on medium (exchange) to full documentation of our activities instead. :-)

In this case — I’d like to document some progress (and experience) I’ve been through on the production and design side in the past days.

The (whole book) design development

For the design of the book, I’ve been combining two versions that we’ve recently developed together. I’ve selected the fonts and colors from the first version, and the nice spacing and color combination of the second version of our first book print trial.

I’ve now finish laying out all 12 chapters of the book. So technically…now our first book is (digitally) done! :-D :-D (eventhough some of small details have to be finalized such as chapter headers or blank sheet between several chapters)

You can find the design of the second test in digital version here.

Now I sent the files to print at local print shops around milan. It should be quick, so we can see the results soon. However, this is a mockup print (to see the thickness/page arrangements/graphics/etc.) before we do an actual risograph print). Therefore, it is all done by digital printing. Then, after everything is safe and sound, I will do the final files in riso and print them as soon as Print Club Torino opens again on the 10th of January.

ps. I also sent email to print club asking is it possible to go in on ther 10th of January, let’s see about their answer. (however, there should be no problem. ;-D)

The format I develop this test upon is A6, a continuation of the size we’ve decided upon for the previous test. However, after laying out all 12 chapters of the book, some problem began to arise….

The finished version of the book has 180 pages.

The amount of pages may seems to not be a problem, but if we take in consideration of binding the book and the proportion of the book (a6) in relation to the number of pages, we have to reconsider how to reduce the number of pages

So, here I propose two solutions to this problem:

1. Keep the A6 size — but divide the book into small little books (maybe one book for each chapter). Then in this case, we can decide the package for how we can wrap all the 12 books together. Binding will be easy in this case, since we can go for a very basic version ( like punto metallico) or some nicer ones like folio refe without any problem for sure. Also, here we can also choose just one illustration to be featured in each chapter, reducing the cost of the whole riso production process.
2. Change the size to A5 — Doing so would reduce the number of pages down to around

Here, since we have few more days till we can make the riso print and binding at print club, I will design and finalize our book in two versions. One is A6 but divided in different small books (probably by chapters), and another is change the size to A5 (but the design are more or less the same).

Here, we can talk the next we meet to make decisions (or we can also wait to see the results first also).

Some frustration on printing file organization

Here I would also like to document some hard and frustrating aspect of organizing the print file.

Creating printer spread for booklet printing. Image courtesy of Adobe Indesign support (https://adobe.ly/2jcyBc7)

Since we are somehow “self-publishing” our book using digital prints and risograph, we have to design our own ways to transfer what we designed in Adobe Indesign to A4 or A3 printing pages. These pages we print have to be able to fold and make the book.

This is easy if we do a book that consists of 4 or 8 pages of interior facade, but a book 180 pages will literally takes you one full day to get the files ready for print.

I literally means one full day (including understanding which page should be collate with which, arranging them accordingly, exporting the pdf, etc.):

A mocking trying to understand the page arrangements and which page should be printed with which.

Getting the files ready to be printed for a mock-up test — A6 (180 pages)

Eventhough InDesign offers an option to print as a booklet, it offers only direct printing — meaning you can print only directly to a printer, not to a pdf or anything similar that we can continue to work on with them. My preliminary search suggest we can do it by assigning the printer as something called ‘postscript’ printing, but I’ve try several times it doesn’t work. so I’ll stick with this traditional way for now and let’s see if there are better ways to manage this in the future.

Binding the book

book binding types available at Print Club Torino

After my last visit to Print Club Torino, I’ve also do a quick survey on the binding techniques. Here are some that I’ve documented

(I’ve also put *** on the ones that I plan to use regarding our design)

Let’s start with the basic ones, then on to some more complicated/customized ones:

ps. I’m not quite sure about the names of the technique. I’ll crosscheck to make sure it’s correct next time I go there.

Punto metallico***
suggested thickness: ~10mm | allowed thickness: ~20mm

Possible to be used for: A5 single-book (maybe) / A6 multi-book

The stapling machine (not quite sure if I got the name quite right)

this is the maximum book thickness that they said the machine can handle. however, it is suggested not to bind the book too thick.

the pressing machine can also be used to finalize the book, making it neat and flat!

Folio Refe***
suggested thickness : ~10mm (not sure, I have to first get my notebook in print club) | allowed thickness: ?

Possible to be used for: A5 single-book / A6 multi-book

book stitching machine

Unknown Technique Name ***

suggested thickness : unlimited | allowed thickness: unlimited

Possible to be used for: A5 single-book

Japanese Binding

This technique is specially designed by a book binding teacher, where each time they arranged a workshop to do a new way of book binding (the one below uses elastic band). If we are interested, we must inquire to print club to see the teacher’s next workshop. We can also request for a private course, but the price is going to be higher because it’s more private and exclusive.

And alot more customized techniques…

Print club also provides special workshops and consultants regarding specifically design binding technique. For the time being I think we should stick on with the basic ones that we (and them) understand clearly. However, we can have a look at these and keep them in mind so that, in the future times, we can take/adapt them in our future book designs.

Considering (and surveying) the packaging

As suggested by Stefano, we should also take into consideration how we should package our book to get them ready for sale.

Since the book is not fully done, and we still cannot imagine the final version of the book until it’s printed, the only thing I can do now is just to do a quick survey of several suppliers of the package.

First one…the China town

items bought back from the first packaging survey in chinatown

An odd place to start, but also not so strange to look for things like this.

I went there first because I recalled seeing a (wholesale) place selling paper and plastic envelopes and bags (of course they don’t sell just that, but these are some of the items they do)

As a result… I found alot of interesting package that are possible to be used with our projects:

Shiny silver plastic package compatible with standard A5 prints (right) If look closely, you can also see the contents inside (left)

Same shiny plastic package in A6 format (left). It also came in various “pop” colors, such like one here in A8 gold (right)

This shiny plastic one (let’s just call it that for now) is quite interesting because the package makes the things inside seems valuable (and mysterious). You can also see though them to see contents inside if you look closely (left). It also produced to fit various standard paper sizes (starting from A5 till A8).

The only problem with this type of package is how to overlay information on them. Usually I see designers use stickers on this type of package. However, let’s see if we can find better ways to manage this. (if possible, I think it would be a great and interesting choice!)

Less shiny silver A5 package

In the adjacent store, you can also find less shiny one, more like a food foil texture (left). However, I’m not quite sure if we could use this specific one because the store only have one package left (comparing to the shiny one above, they have more than we need).

transparent package

The transparent package shown on the right picture, for me, is considered a safe choice (it’s always good to have a plan B). However, the package doesn’t come to fit perfectly with the standard “A” paper size that we’re working with. As you can see, there are alot of spaces left.

Here if we decide that we will use the transparent one, I think we can find the one that fits more the standard “A” paper size (if we search more closely).

A5 white paper envelope

The white envelope is also interesting, and of course, safe. This option is also easier to overlayed them with any prints that we want.

fabric package (left), ziplock with stripes (right)

There are also some various just-to-keep-in-mind choices: meaning maybe it could not be so perfect in this project, but who knows, it could be found useful for any future projects.

For example the ziplock package. Maybe if we really find a good way to use it (of course, we should find the one without stripes), maybe it could be a great adaptation.

Second…the online suppliers

In these next coming days I will also have a look online at some packaging suppliers within reach (and possible to order within these next days)

Print club also showed me one long time ago. I’ll ask them again this time if we can have a look at some of the possible package for out project (but I don’t think I should post their supplier list here. I’ll share with you in a private channel instead ;-D)

On and all, I’ll try to experiment more with somethings and we can have a look at all possible packaging options that we can use. Then we can finalize things together as a whole. And also, please tell me anytime if you came up with any interesting places/people/idea that could be great to look for suitable package for our project. :-)

ps. I’m making a new google sheets in our google drive to put down different suppliers I’ve surveyed. If possible, it could be great if you would like to add some more places we should check out. ;-D (we can even do it together if you have time)

That’s it for now regarding some updates on the design and production side. I’ll keep in touch (real soon) for any further updates or things to document ;-)

Buon Lavoro!

N.