Grids And Layouts

Julie Van Severen came fro a workshop and taught us the basic of grids and their importance within the laying out of any page or document.

Grids give structure within the page for a cleaner, more professional look every time. The lost important lines to follow are the outside margins, but all lines must be taken into consideration. She also reminded us of the importance of readability and legibility in design

She encouraged us to look at certain examples, for example from The Gentlewoman magazine and see what in the layout was ‘working’.

Here, the main title is differentiated by a large font and a red color, though it is unconventional because it is superimposed with the paragraph text. The charged text page is balanced by a full size close up portrait opposite.

Similarly, here, the title is also large and colored in font, although it is superimposed on the image instead of the text. There is a large rectangular introductory paragraph at the top of the left page, some captions and three clean columns of text.

Here there is no color at all, but an almost dis-proportionally large title brings a boldness to the page.

After class, I decided to look for my own examples.

Although this poster can lack in readability, as the reader wants to read from left to right rather than up to down, this poster is effective. It is bright, bold, but also very tame in that it uses a grid in a traditional manner.

\i found this example of a page with the grids drawn to show the reasoning behind the concept of this page.

Here the main title, Agnes Varda’s name, is incorporated in the subtitle, which surrounds it around the page in smaller font. A grid is followed, but this page still feels fresh and different in its approach.