Chapter five concerns the grid used in design and
typography. The book defines a grid as “a skeletal framework used by designers
to organize information within a spatial field”. The chapter is organized
linearly, starting out with the history of the grid, a discussion of structure,
space, and proportion, and then an overview of different types of grids. I
found it very interesting that grids have been found from an early as 3000 BC
in Mesopotamia. It’s astounding that without any technology, these people were
able to understand such an important mathematical and design component that is
still relevant today.
The book explains that the ability to understand a grid
comes from within the human subconscious. I was somewhat surprised about this
statement for a few reasons. Later in the chapter, the mathematical
complexities of the grid are further explained by the authors. They are quite
confusing and frankly most of it went over my head. I find it hard to believe
that people unconsciously understand the full complexities of grids. However, I
do understand how someone would understand alignment. I have OCD so I thought
my compulsion to align everything was because of that, but now I’m
reconsidering. Perhaps everyone has somewhat of a desire for everything to be lined
up neatly and align to a grid?
While reading this chapter, I kept thinking about the
structural skeleton discussed thoroughly in Art and Visual Perception by
Rudolph Arnheim. I’m not sure if a structural skeleton would be considered a “grid”,
however based on some of the author’s discussions. For instance, when they talk
about the perception of horizontal and vertical text, and how gravity plays a
role in why people prefer horizontal text, it reminded me of how Arnheim states
that anything placed in the lower half of the structural skeleton would feel “grounded”
and heavy while things placed higher would feel lighter and less grounded.
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