Graphic Design I: (from Thinking with Type)

Grids and Alignments assignment

The objective for this in class exercise is to explore the basic architecture of typographic layouts using grids and alignments.

Take the grid specifications below and the following text from Ellen Lupton’s, Letters gather into words, words build into sentences and by manipultating the alignment of lines and column create various layouts that give different emphasis to the meaning of the text.

Use any typeface in the Baskerville or Adobe Caslon family, set it in 9pt. The leading, case and alignment is the designer’s choice. Use the grid as a guide and explore how it can be a help in your designing process.

New Doc. Size: 8 x 8 inches
Margins .25 inches
under layout > create guides > 4 columns and 4 rows with .25 in. gutters
Presentation: Place a box around the trim with a .25 stroke, print out and trim to size.

In typography, “text” is defined as an ongoing sequence of words, distinct from shorter headlines or captions. The main block is often called the “body,” comprising the principal mass of content. Also known as “running text,” it can flow from one page, column, or box to another. Text can be viewed as a thing—a sound and sturdy object—or a fluid poured into the containers of page or screen. Text can be solid or liquid, body or blood. Designers generally treat a body of text consistently, letting it appear as a coherent substance that is distributed across the spaces of a document. In digital media, long texts are typically broken into chunks that can be accessed by search engines or hypertext links. Contemporary designers and writers produce content for various contexts, from the pages of print to an array of software environments, screen conditions, and digital devices, each posing its own limits and opportunities.
The beauty and wonder of “white space” is another modernist myth that is subject to revision in the age of the user. Modern designers discovered that open space on a page can have as much physical presence as printed areas. White space is not always a mental kindness, however. Edward Tufte, a fierce advocate of visual density, argues for maximizing the amount of data conveyed on a single page or screen. In order to help readers make connections and comparisons as well as to find information quickly, a single surface packed with well-organized information is sometimes better than multiple pages with a lot of blank space. In typography as in urban life, density invites intimate exchange among people and ideas.

From: Letters gather into words, words build into sentences. by Ellen Lupton