Report of the field works in Lao and Singapore

1. Field Works

We visited to Bookstores, Magazine shops and Museums in Vientiane, Luang Phabang and Singapore to study document styles/layouts actually employed in those countries and cities.

2. Obtained Documents

The documents obtained during the field works are listed in Figure 1.

Figure 1 — Obtained Documents

Ref. No.	Original Title (English Title [if any])	Language
B1		Lao
B2		Lao
M1	(Science & Technique)	Lao
P1	(Business News)	Lao
P2	(Sports News)	Lao
M2	(Update)	Lao, English
M3	Kinnaree	Thai, English
M4	(Pajina)	Sinhalese
B3	(Avalukku Oru Kaditham)	Tamil
B4		Tamil
B5	(Vanama Boomiya?)	Tamil
B6	(Computer Science)	Tamil
B7	Meditation on Om () and Mandukya Upanishad	English, Tamil
B8		Lao
B9		Lao
B10		Lao
B11		Lao

3. Document Style/Layout

Some examples of document styles/layouts are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 — Document Style/Layout

Document Style/ Layout	Reference (Ref No., page)	Language	Rendered Image	No.
Column layout	B1, 3	Lao		01
Column layout	B1, 19	Lao		02
Unordered list with special bullet	B2, 10	Lao		03
Unordered list with special bullet	B2, 13	Lao		04
Unordered list with special bullet	M1, 17	Lao		05
Enclosure for heading	M1, 29	Lao		06
Unordered list with special bullet	P1, 11	Lao		07
Unordered list with special bullet	P2, 4	Lao		08
Ordered list	P2, 5	Lao		09
Drop cap	M2, 12	Lao		10
Heading over 2 pages	M2, 16-17	Lao		11
Unordered list with leader	B8, 140	Lao		25
Unordered list within table	B8, 172	Lao		26
Multiple fonts	B9, 7	Lao		27
Column layout	B10, 149	Lao		28
Table of content	B10, toc	Lao		29
Item and indent	B11, 10	Lao		30

Document Style/ Layout	Reference (Ref No., page)	Language	Rendered Image	No.
Drop cap	M3, 26	Thai		12
Unordered list with different indent	M3, 48	Thai		13
Paragraph with open quote	M3, 56	Thai and English	[enlarge this figure]	18

Document Style/ Layout	Reference (Ref No., page)	Language	Rendered Image	No.
Drop cap	M4, 7	Sinhalese		14
Left/right alignment	M4, 29	Sinhalese		15
Quote indent	B3, 65	Tamil		16
Leader	B3, 16	Tamil		17
Quote mark	M4, 7	Sinhalese		19
Left/right align, Paragraph separator	B4, 28-29	Tamil		20
Upright and slant "!"	B4, 77	Tamil		21
Quote indent	B5, 25	Tamil		22
Tamil and English mixture	B6, 27	Tamil and English		23
North-India and English mixture	B7, 100	North-India and English		24

4. Discussion

The rendered images were extracted from the reference documents by non-native experts who cannot understand the semantics of the written texts. The choice and extraction were carried out from the special interest's point of view on the document style/layout.

The examples are expected to include the language specific features but may include

• (1) styles/layouts which are media (book/magazine/newspaper) specific
• (2) styles/layouts which are mal-rendering (rendered irregularly)

Typography experts, in particular, who are native in Lao, Sinhalese, Tamil or Thai language, are requested to provide their comments on the examples. Thank you.