Master Design Rules

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World Expander Junk Journal - Master Design Rules
Applies to every future location/topic pack. Baseline target: 45 total printed pieces (book pages + loose inserts combined) - okay to exceed, not to fall short.



The Most Important Aspects in Designing a World Expander

• Do the facts, images, ephemera allow the end user to tell a story?
  
  For instance:
   Bird Refuge Junk Journal: can they use the birds, plants, images of boats or guns to talk about the significance of their migration due to food availability and how it dictates hunting season or when they raise their young and have eggs? Do images of predators allow for notes to be added about their lifecycle and possible behaviors or limitations?
  
  Ancestral Peubolan Junk Journal:
  Do images of food, animals, pottery all work together to allow the end user to create a narrative such as explaining that once they shifted from nomadic to stationary, this allowed farming of corn and beans which require long cooking times, resulting in the need and widespread adoption of pottery to cook these seeds for long periods of time - going along with the adaption of the matate and manos, etc
  
  
• Size - do the pockets fit the images, the fact cards,does the ephemera come in different varied sizes allowing for them to be used in different locations, added onto pockets or put in empty blank spaces not otherwise used? Big and small. Pockets should fit the pages, not exceeding their width or length (unless this is an intentional aesthetic choice for a specific type of design)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  video of (incomplete) World Expander
  
  
  1. Book Structure (fixed base - applies regardless of topic)
  
  • Base sheet: 11"x8.5", folded in half along the long edge -> finished page = 8.5" tall x 5.5" wide
    
  • 8 sheets = 16 physical pages, all printed double-sided as half-page spreads
    
  • Pages bound by gluing a folded washi tape strip between each page pair (spine strip) - keeps consistent spine width and even stacking
    
  • Spine strip width can increase on pages that need extra depth for a pocket to hold thicker/physical items
  • No full-color vs. half-color split - all 8 base sheets follow this same double-sided half-page format
  
  Image: diagram of the fold - 11"x8.5" sheet -> 8.5"x5.5" finished page
  
  
  Image: example of washi spine strip binding two pages
  
  
  
  2. Pockets & Envelopes
  
  • Scale with page count: ~1.5 pockets/envelopes per structural page -> at 16 pages, target ~24 pockets/envelopes
    
  • Pockets prioritized over envelopes (envelopes waste a hidden back side)
    
  • Vary shape and placement:
  
  
  • Long/narrow pockets along the bottom of a page (folder-style)
  
  
  • Angled pockets in corners
  
  
  • Free-standing pockets, more square, with curved edges or small cutout embellishments
  
  
  

• Interior sizing built against the fixed insert-size table below - this is the direct fix for last time's fit problem

Image: bottom folder-style pocket


Image: folder-style pocket, variant


Image: angled corner pocket


Image: free-standing curved pocket



3. Insert Size Table
Standardized - every card/tag/note uses one of these sizes.

Type	Size
ATC	2.5" x 3.5"
Mini tag	2" x 3.5"
Journaling card	3" x 4"
Index card	3" x 5"

Every pocket's interior clearance should be at least 1/4" larger than the biggest insert size intended for it.

Image: visual size comparison of the four insert types



4. Ephemera & Content

• Ephemera/fact cards: ~50-55% of total loose-item count
• Mix of shapes: square and long-rectangle (bookmark-style)
• Faux Polaroids: sized to match real small commercial Polaroids, with matching pockets/envelopes so real photos can be added later
  
• Media mix: AI-generated art styled as watercolor/hand-drawn - not photoreal. Real photos are fine but get an outer drop-shadow added for easy fussy-cutting
  

Image: faux Polaroid example


Image: watercolor-style art example


Image: AI-generated ephemera with fussy-cut drop shadow



5. Blank & Interactive Pages

• 15 total, varied sizes and shapes (big, small, long, tall)
  
• Mix of:


• Blank lined paper for personal notes


• Prompted field guide/recording pages (species seen, date collected, etc.), mostly blank for filling out




• Specimen pocket/glassine envelope: 3-6, scaled to how artifact-rich the topic is
  
• Mounting corners/tabs included for attaching real found items without glue damage

Image: prompted field guide page


Image: blank lined paper - varied shapes/sizes




Image: glassine specimen envelope



6. Washi Tape
Decorative, separate from spine-binding washi.

• 2 sheets x 10 strips each, 0.85" wide x 10" long = 20 strips total
  

Image: decorative washi tape sheet layout



7. Paper & Printing Efficiency

• Nest small ephemera into gaps around larger pockets/envelopes - maximize use of every printed sheet
• Wasted/empty background areas get no ink or color - leave bare paper, don't print color into unused space
  
• No die-cutting - flat printed sheets only, buyer/you does the cutting
• Paper: 80-100 lb uncoated matte cardstock, single paper type across the whole pack

Image: nested layout example sheet



8. Structure & Front Matter

• Cover/title page
• "How to use this journal" intro page
• 1 fold-out map or oversized spread
• Table of contents / field kit checklist card

Image: cover/title page


Image: fold-out map spread



This doc is the reusable spec for every future pack. Only the ephemera content, fact-card subjects, and color/texture palette change per location - everything above stays constant.
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