Chapter 5 Summary-Jacqueline Lin

The typographic grid is a skeletal framework that organizes information within a spatial field. The history of the grid was rooted from the earliest written forms. The grid became a programmatic system of mathematical precision in Switzerland during the 1950s, and it became a universal visual organization tool in the last half of the 20th century. The structure and space of a grid makes the divisions of the size, weight, and position of the squares on the grid. If you imagine a letterform on a grid, turning the letter slightly can cause the type to make it look like it is tumbling. The proportions is important in the divided space because the grid ratio governs the size and placement of typographic elements. The Fibonacci sequence is an important model for proportion because it can be observed through nature. The square is also provides infinite visual patterns as a model. Single column grids are usually on standard paper sizes, organizing the letters to be in a certain text block. Multi-columned grids are based upon a "Cartesian" coordinate system of intersecting and perpendicular axes. Modular grids offers more complex information with a high degree of accuracy and clarity. Improvisational structures are predetermined organizational devices. When working with improvisational structures, it needs a firm understanding of asymmetrical composition, the dynamics of positive and negative space, and the essential role of visual contrast among typographic elements.