Chapter 5 Summary

Chapter fives teaches us about the typographic grid: “skeletal framework used by designers to organize information within a spatial field.  It is a system characterized by the dualities of freedom and constraint, simplicity and complexity.”  The chapter starts out by telling us a little bit about the background of the grid.  It roots from the cuneiform tablets by the Mesopotamians.  The grid wasn’t created at a specific point and time; it just evolved.  It came about as a mathematical system in Switzerland, and is now buried into our subconscious.  Space and structure are very important when understand the typographic grid.  Divisions in space create visual structure.  These segments of divided space are seen as very proportional relationships.  In typographic design, designers must have a very strong sense of proportion.  With this comes the golden section.  “It is a law of proportionally found frequently in nature, the human body, and used throughout centuries in art, architecture, design, and music.  A relationship or ratio between two numbers (or objects) wherein the ratio of the smaller number to the larger number is the same as the sum of both numbers.”  Closely related to this is the Fibonacci sequence.  A division of the golden section is the square.  The square has influenced the modern grid more than anything else.  When text is meant to read in a linear fashion, it is commonly put into single column grids.  Text blocks, which they are commonly called, fit to pages based on budget constraints, paper sizes, and the typographic information.  Multiple column grids consist of rectangular columns with horizontal and vertical lines.  The book says that when working with multiple column grids you have to understand three variables: type size, line length, and interline spacing or leading.  One adjustment to any one of these will usually require and adjustment to the others.  Modular grids offer more space and availability to show more complex information.  These are formed with horizontal and vertical lines.  Poster design often uses modular grids.  Lastly, the chapter talks about improvisational structures.  Elements that the designer wants to use usually determine the structure of the piece instead of aligning your elements to a specific grid.  These structures are more difficult to use because they require a vast understanding of asymmetrical composition.