In typography, the grid system, also called grids, refers to the practice of laying out of a page using a grid of different-sized and -shaped rectangles to align items to. The purpose of the grid is to help the designer organize the content of the page in a pleasing and easy-to-digest manner for the viewer by imposing structure and cohesion to the layout. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

The use of grids is quite common in graphic design and the concept is also used in interior design. Some allege that the idea of grids is similar to ideas of certain new-age versions of feng shui. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Interior design is the process of shaping the experience of interior space, through the manipulation of spatial volume as well as surface treatment. ... Fēng Shuǐ (風水 – literally, wind and water pronounced fung shuway), which may be more than 3000 years old, is the ancient practice of placement to achieve harmony with the environment. ...

History

Even before printing was invented, simple grids based on certain optimal proportions had been in use to help arrange text on pages. One such system, known as the “Villard’s diagram”, was in use at least since the mediaeval times.

After World War II, a number of graphic designers, including Max Bill, Emil Ruder, and Josef Müller-Brockmann, influenced by the modernist ideas of Jan Tschichold, began to question the relevance of the conventional grid systems of the time. They started to devise a flexible system which is able to help the designer achieve coherency in the pages, and the modern grid system was born. One of the classics on the modern grid, Grid systems in graphic design by Müller-Brockmann, was written at this time. Max Bill (December 22, 1908 – December 8, 1994) was a Swiss architect, artist, and designer. ... Josef Müller-Brockmann, (May 9, 1914 – August 30, 1996), was a Swiss graphic designer and teacher. ... Jan Tschichold (April 2, 1902 Leipzig, Germany – August 11, 1974 Locarno, Switzerland) was a typographer, book designer, teacher and writer. ...

Since the late 1980s, some designers began to question what they perceived to be dogmatic use of grids, even to the point of viewing consistency as a liability, advocating instead free-form layout. The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ...

Note

There is also the “reference grid”, an unrelated system with roots in the early days of printing. This meaning is very uncommon.

References

• Baines, Phil and Haslam, Andrew. Type & typography, second edition. New York: Waston-Guptill Publications, 2005. ISBN 0-8230-5528-0.
• Burnhill, Peter. Type spaces : in house norms in the typography of Aldus Manutius. London: Hyphen Press, 2003. p. 101.

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