Studio Practice: Design Principles - Studio Brief 2

When creating the book cover designs, it was crucial that research was done first to find out the ways in which design should be applied to a context. The main thing to consider when starting a design is the layout that will be used as a guide for the designs and text. This way the designs that are created can better suit the context in which they are placed. There are different grid systems that are used for different contexts, so that the designs or information are displayed in a way that is recognisable to the viewer.

Grids
Grids are used as the foundation for a layout in which different sections can be applied. There are different grid systems that are used to display text and imagery, in a way that best suits the theme or aesthetic of the subject being designed.

portrait and landscape
grids define and reflect proportion
The golden ratio determines the most pleasing set of proportions for an element, and is simplified to the 'rule of thirds'.

there are 4 different types of grid used in design:

Manuscript/single column Grid - characterised by large text margins, and are commonly used for continuous blocks of text. Typically, the manuscript grid can be found in books, essays and blogs.

Column Grid - shows a sequence of columns running vertical down the format of a layout. They can be useful for discontinuous information being displayed on the page, as found in newspapers. The column grid is usually found to be separated using gutters, which are thin spaces in between the horizontal rows. These are also commonly found to be thinner than the outside margins, as this allows the attention of the viewer to be drawn to the centre and legibility is easier.

Modular Grid - similar to the column grid, the modular grid shows even divisions marked by rows. The modular grid can be used as a way to control more area than what is possible in a column grid and is commonly used for displaying small squares of information or a series of uniform images. Typically this is found on websites that offer products, and they use it to show several items at once on a page.

Hierarchical Grid - These are used to position certain subjects based on their importance. For example, as the layout is commonly used for webpages, it can be used as a way to promote one image larger than another to show its importance. This also means that the column widths can change, as well as the positioning of the flowlines.