Silver Print and Published Media Design · 2024
Gongche Sketch Book Impart Wisdom
by Xueqing Chen
- A' Design Award 2024 Silver Winner in Print and Published Media Design
- Awarded April 15, 2024
- CLIENT: Nanjing University of the Arts
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 181,819
- Verification code 707F2069D5 · Verify this award
About Gongche Sketch Book Impart Wisdom
Gongche Sketch Book is an interactive book about Gongche notation, a traditional Chinese musical notation system. The book presents a redesigned set of Gongche characters, refined in stroke direction, thickness and size for clarity. A 30-note hand-cranked music box movement is built into the book structure. A punched paper tape matching the notation is inserted into the movement, and turning the crank produces the written pitches. The bare wire hardcover binding exposes the spine and the layered pages. The design lets readers study Gongche notation by sight, sound and touch.
This distinguished publication design emerges from the rich intersection of traditional musical notation systems and contemporary editorial practice, demonstrating how heritage knowledge might be transmitted through thoughtfully considered graphic form. The designer appears to engage with the challenge of presenting classical instructional content through a visual language that honors historical precedent while embracing contemporary typographic clarity. The bold deployment of saturated yellow geometric elements—particularly the commanding circular ring form—functions as both organizational device and symbolic gesture, perhaps suggesting the cyclical nature of learning or the focused attention required for musical mastery. The traditional vertical text orientation preserves cultural continuity with historical documents while the generous white space and systematic grid structure align with international modernist principles of visual communication. Technical accomplishment manifests in the precise relationship between typography and geometric intervention, each spread appearing as a carefully orchestrated composition where instructional content and visual form achieve synthesis. The accordion-fold format invites active physical engagement, transforming reading into an unfolding experience that mirrors the progressive revelation of musical understanding. The restrained palette of yellow against white with black typography creates maximum legibility while the chromatic warmth of the yellow elements lends approachability to potentially challenging scholarly material. One might consider how this design bridges temporal distances, making historical knowledge systems accessible to contemporary learners while honoring the visual cultures from which such traditions emerged.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Through innovative design, Gongche Sketch Book facilitates a profound understanding of the charm of Gongche notation among people from different cultures, languages, and eras. It serves as a cultural conduit, connecting the past with the present, allowing the enchanting resonance of Gongche to spread globally.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Width 160mm × length 210mm × height 30mm
- Tags
- Gongchipu; multi-sensory; redesign; listening book; music interpretation
- Production Technology
- When designing the binding, bare wire hardcover is a special binding method, and its handmade texture can also echo the content and cultural heritage of the book. In addition, the exposed form of the spine shows the layering of the pages, and coupled with the feeling of hand touch, the reader's body and mind can be compared to enjoying the rhythm of music.
- Design Challenge
- In the process of modern character drawing for Gongchipu, it is not only necessary to ensure the standardization and readability of the symbols, but also to integrate them with other musical notation forms and the metric Pu character system for easy understanding. When redesigning the musical notation symbols, attention was paid to the accurate expression, conciseness and ease of understanding of each character, while also making these characters visually impactful and recognizable. On the basis of retaining the characteristics of traditional Gongchi Pu notation, the We conducted in-depth research and optimization on glyph direction, stroke thickness, symbol size, etc., and then created a novel, beautiful, and easy-to-understand Gongchipu character system.
- Project Duration
- The project will start in Nanjing in June 2022, be completed in Nanjing in May 2023, and will be exhibited in Nanjing in May 2023.
- Operation Flow
- The 30-note hand-cranked music box movement is used as the core mechanism and combined with the book structure. Its characteristic is that a paper tape with holes punched at the corresponding note position is loaded into the mechanical structure, and the hand rocker is shaken, and the punched paper tape passes through the sound comb to emit sounds. corresponding pitch. Using this principle, the musical notation of Gongchipu corresponds to the pitch hole position of the paper tape, so that after the reader has a preliminary understanding of the image and text, he can further insert the paper tape corresponding to Gongchipu into the movement. The interactive method further understands Gongchipu from the auditory dimension.
- Research
- none
- Inspiration
- At the core of Gongche Sketch Book is interactive design, allowing readers to delve into the culture of Gongche notation in a user-friendly manner. Through a comprehensive experience involving sight, hearing, and touch, it sparks interest in Gongche notation, infusing new vitality into cultural heritage. Friendly interaction makes learning easy and enjoyable.