Layout Essentials

Introduction

“. . . Mr. Rauschenberg . . . gained a respect for the grid as an essential compositional organizing tool.”

—MICHAEL KIMMELMAN, on the importance of grids to the artist Robert Rauschenberg.The New York Times, May 14, 2008, obituary for Rauschenberg

A grid is used to organize space and information for the reader; it maps out a plan for the overall project.

In addition, a grid is a holding pen for information and a way to ordain and maintain order.

Although grids have been used for centuries, many graphic designers associate grids with the Swiss. The rage for order in the 1940s led to a very systematic way of visualizing information. Decades later, grids were considered monotonous and boring—the sign of a “designersaur.” Today, grids ...