A Rationalization

If I can pinpoint a specific moment in which I began to really think of myself as getting the hang of graphic design, it was during the creation of my first project in a class called Digital Grid Systems. I had heard that the class had to do with layout and that it would require using InDesign to for all our work, which at the time of the class, I felt that I had a strong understanding, both with layout and the program.

Boy was I wrong about that. In Digital Grid Systems I learned how grids really functioned. Before this class, I had always made sure that objects and type on my page lined up with each other quite meticulously, but what I didn’t realize is that the locations that I had lined up objects to was simply arbitrary. Also just drawing guidelines to mark off the margins of a page really didn’t help as much as I thought it used to. Digital Grid Systems woke me up to the complexities and functionality of designing with an underlying grid.

After this big spark went off in my brain, I felt like I could design anything fifty times better now that I had a grid guiding my work into the perfect locations that not only made sense mathematically, but also visually. “Columns of body copy could stretch this far, this image could go here. No wait, it should go there.” And that’s how wonderful grids really can be.

I started to analyze all the works by famous designers—every Pentagram poster, every U&lc magazine cover, everything I had ever wished I had thought of and dreamed to surpass. They all used grids. And it wasn’t like I even needed to get out a ruler to check, I could tell just by looking. The grids were clearly there in plain daylight. Some of the work I liked, such as the work by Ladislav Sutnar, had its grid as a prevalent part of the work, not shamefully hidden under the content. At this moment I realized that it is not limited to just the work attached to the grid, but the grid itself can be beautiful (and maybe even more so) just like the visual elements bolted to it.

Looking at Old Work

I turned the mirror back upon myself. I went back and looked at all my older projects that always felt just a tad bit off. I would build a grid underneath them just to check, and I could see all the chaos that I had previously ensued on the page. At first I would feel horrible about my work, constantly wondering how I could have let myself get away with just randomly placing type, erroneously cropping illustrations, and thoughtlessly assigning margins. But now that the grid was there to guide and reinforce all my decisions for a layout, I knew I wouldn’t make the same mistakes again. Design makes much more sense now.

Grids made me aware that everything had a place. Now I don’t mean that in a sense that titles should always be at the top of the page in the center, but more along the lines of everything should go somewhere for a reason—and a grid provides reasons. Now every single instance I place an object into any kind of layout, whether it be print or digital, I ask myself, “why am I putting this here?” This consciousness brought on by the revelation of grids has only increased the power and beauty of my designs. I feel confident that my work is not only pretty to look at but also structurally stable.

Perhaps when the term grid is brought up, people often think of rigidity and something immobile. However, even something that is rigid by nature can actually lend itself to many unique applications. In fact, the more a grid is divided into smaller grids, the more flexible it becomes. For example, a twelve column magazine layout can be utilized as a two, three, four, or six column layout as well in order to grant the designer some room for experimentation. This elastic nature of the grid will ultimately lead to more complex variations in layout while still keeping everything neat and tidy. This is definitely a positive thing in the design world as we often want that dynamic look but don’t want to risk losing communication through inconsistency.

Now that I have full awareness of grids, I can honestly say that I have reached a higher level of design in my own work. Grids have helped guide my work to a more professional level. No longer will anything be placed in a subjective location.