Chapter 5 Reflection | Nauseda

When reading through chapter 5 on the typographic grid, I can only think of Adobe InDesign. Though, I never would have guessed it would go back as far as Mesopotamia. Organizing things in grid structure seems to be inherent in human nature. The grid in typography is a good tool for the designer to use a framework when organizing type in a particular space. The way elements are placed in a certain grid is critical to the designer, who is trying to communicate a certain message. For example, if one is trying to simply demonstrate the idea of isolation using only type, the designer might place whatever words they need on the edge of the grid somewhere, as opposed to somewhere centered and stable. The placement of the words on the edge of the grid create both tension and energy, while also giving weight to the empty space of the page, all enforcing the feeling and idea of isolation.

Also seemingly inherent in human nature as well as all of nature is the golden section, based on the findings of Vitruvius, and having given the foundation for the Fibonacci sequence. It is a very famous sequence of numbers where the next number in sequence is the sum of the two previous numbers. When squares are arranged in sizes that follow the Fibonacci sequence, one gets the golden spiral, and can then determine the golden section.

When considering the grid, one has to pay very close attention to making adjustments to type. I took special note of this section, as it seems like something I would easily look over. When trying to design in relation to a grid, one must carefully consider leading, type size, and line length. Changing one of these will more often than not require a change to all other large block elements of a page in order to maintain the uniformity and organization of the grid. It is also possible, however, to design using any structure or no structure to support the design. However, the more unconventional the base structure used to frame the design, the more complicated and deep the knowledge of that style of design has to be.

An advertisement for a light bulb manufacturer done by Aleksandr Rodchenko, in which he used a grid structure for the entire piece, including text. Not a standard grid, but it shows his unique style of design.