About a year ago I took the turn of making a presentation about “The basics of the Grid” for a typography course at uni, together with a colleague. I could hardly wait to dive a little into the Grid, we had seen some awesome pieces in the course. Where to start? What to include?
The cup of water in the desert
Most good literature about the Grid is kind of repelling: it’s filled with formulae and desert-dry theory. That might fit Typographer-stereotypes or in-depth studying, but it won’t make you happy when you’re starting to learn the magic.
The following illustrations are taken from Kimberly Elam‘s book Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type, and are pretty self-explanatory. If you consider yourself “kind of new to professional design” or never got into grids, this is the place to start. The book makes use of transparent pages overlaying the provided examples – a really nice application of using materials in print-design. Also, you are not hammered with the seriousness and booooring of too much theory. For starting, keep it simple and fun…
Example: event poster
Note how elegant and clean it looks, without being boring. Only one element accompanies the type.
Introducing the "Rule of thirds"
If you have never heard of the rule of thirds, the wikipedia-article is good place to start.
Proportions
Note how the different elements are multiples of thirds. They are proportional to one another and the format. Check back to the first illustration and compare the proportions there.
Making Blocks 1
Making blocks 2
Text is converted to blocks to detach the graphical impact of the elements from the wording.
Please note…
- The different objects are fitting together so well because Elam designed them that way specifically for the example. You will run into major problems when trying to fit together different blocks of type like that – don’t get frustrated, it’s normal.
- Using squares as the basic format is also a slick idea for starting. When you’re done with them, try out an European A-format and check its harmonic beauty… yeah, us germans with those DINs… then have a look at the US-letter or -legal format and make up your own mind about how that feels in comparison. Just saying
Allrighty, after defining basic terms and setting, let’s have a look at context, that reads relationships:
1. Relationships between objects
Groups
Grouping similar objects together makes the composition look calm, concentrated and informative.
Axes
An object touching an axis creates an anchorpoint. The more anchorpoints an axis has, the more stable but also static it is.
2. Whitespace
Whitespace
Grouping whitespace makes the composition less cluttered and gives the eyes some chance to breathe.
3. Relationship between objects and format
Edges
The more edges are touched, the more the whole composition is anchored on the format.
That’s it.
And while it is neither necessary, desirable or possible to follow all of it at once in every piece, it’s always good to kepp them in the back of your head. You will notice when to use what over time… and, maybe even more important, when to “break the rules”, if the goal is to create something dynamic and/or chaotic.
The world of the Grid is a magical one, with objects aligning, type-sizing and line-heighting falling in place without hassle and being the literal straw to clutch when one is stuck and lost. Now go create something! Have fun! And buy that book…
