Tuesday 26 February 2013

OUGD404: Design Principles - Construction of Grids

Before you can apply a grid, you must understand the requirements of the grid for the work produced.

Typeface, text and illustrations, print method and paper quality, must be confirmed beforehand (ideally).

Always start with small sketches.
  • Thumbnail sketches will make your job of final layouts easier and productive
  • Thumbnail sizes should be proportionate to the final format.
  • Which will make your final layouts easier and productive. 
Before drawing your sketches, consider the number of columns needed.

For example
  • 1 Column only for text and illustrations give little freedom of layout
    • Restrictions of making illustrations small, medium or large.
  • 2 Columns logically, gives you more scope
    • 1 column for text 
    • 1 column fore illustration
    • they can be mixed together
  • 2 column division can be split into more columns.
Three columns
  • Opportunities for arranging and accommodating text and illustrations in numerous sizes. 
Disadvantages of 6 column systems are:
  • Lines of text will be narrow
  • Small typeface will have to be used
  • However, this all depends of the function which you wish to perform.
For statistics, figures, graphs & trend line publications
  • Use 4 columns per page.
  • 4 Columns can be subdivides into 8, 16+
The widget of a column dictates the size of typeface used.

The rule:
  • The narrower the column is the smaller typeface.
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Thumbnails and development

In a nut shell
  • Make a variety of thumbnails of layouts/design
  • Do not just rely on one set of thumbnails.
  • Enlarge a small selection of appropriate thumbnails by 1:1.
  • Compare them and select and replete process until you feel confident with the design.


Apply Type to Columns
  • First time must fit flush to the top limit of the clump grid.
  • The last line must stand of the bottom limit.
  • Keep calm, it is difficult to find the final solution the first time around
  • It could mean that your grid field is too high, or too low.
  • Divide into two columns
  • Split into 3 further fields
  • Decided what point size you wish to use, and there should be an even number of lines in each field. 
  • 10 point type - 15 point leading
  • Column lenth 15cm
  • Loosely means use 15 point leading
  • And this length there must be 10 lines per field
  • Meaning 30 lines every 15 cm
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Font Heights

  • 4 point type - 6 point leading: Caption Text (What's your smallest text on the page going to be)
    • Select lines, draw a line at the highest point of the Ascender, and the lowest point of the descenders
    • Fit two lines within this, and you get
  • 7 point type - 10 point leading: Header and footer text
  • 10 Point type - 13 point leading: Body text
  • 20 Point type: Subheading
  • 40 Point type: Headline
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Type and Picture (8 Field Grid)

  • A4+ Format
  • 8x20 Field grids
  • 8 field grids are used frequently fort advertising material and brochures
  • If using 8 field grids, you can subdivide into 16 field grids.
  • 8 to 16 field grids give you a range of possibilities. 
  • 8 grid fields allow various sizes of illustrations to be portrayed
  • You can use with or without text
  • You need to have a good perception of composition. 
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Following this, in the session, we opened inDesign and learnt some new methods to construct various formats of grids within InDesign. We also learnt multiple ways do perform the same task, so we can find one to use which we find easiest or most efficient. I recorded the process, which you can see in the video I made, below.


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