Grids

When detractors attack graphic design - Swiss design in particular - they point out that visual expression based on mathematical grids must be dull and inexpressive. In fact, the opposite is true. Grids means freedom. And what's more, artists have always known this.

Josef Muller-Brockmann wrote: 'The reduction of the number of visual elements used and their incorporation in a grid system creates a sense of compact planning, intelligibility and clarity and suggests orderliness of design. This orderliness adds credibility to the information and induces confidence. The grid determines the constant dimensions of space. There is virtually no limit to the number of grid divisions. It may be said in general that every piece of work must be studied very carefully so as to arrive at the specific grid network corresponding to its requirements.'

A grid is fundamentally about spatial relationships. Every spatial relationship needs to be considered. Putting together the internal bracing of a layout is one of the great joys of design, and once all the relationships are in place - arrived at through examination of all the factors involved - we are free to take as many liberties with the grid as possible.

For many clients, grids have become templates. They are highly usable, idiot-proof systems that allow anyone to lay out text and images. The result is the death of the notion of the grid as a living breathing structure, and the establishment of the idea of the grid as a rigid structure that anything can be poured into.

Graphic Design: A User's Manual by Adrian Shaughnessy