by vshepherd | Aug 11, 2012 | typography
As a kid growing up my boundaries were outlined by four streets, Newburg, Cherry Hill, Wayne and Palmer. Many streets dead ended at the woods, Wayne road held Norman’s market, were one dollar meant a weeks candy stash. As a teen a walk around the block meant a four hike, each intersection located a mile apart on the country road. Directions were easy because each road was one mile in all directions. Never gave this much thought until stumbling upon Holly Holzschlag, Thinking Outside The Grid article. Holzschlag recounts flying over cities and looking down on the city footprints. She tells us that Tucson was a planned city built on an orderly grid system. Whereas London, the city she compares Tucson with, is built in a spontaneous fashion. [1] It is also a much older city, growing organically through the centuries. Looking at these maps one can see how the structure of the orderly gird system is easy to navigate, even dependable. However, the trip can become a little monotonous. Driving around Detroit, built with a central district and circling out into the grid can be exciting as roads wrap and wind around the cities top attractions and business district. However it is also easy to get lost. Successful print and web designs are based on a grid system. The grid is an invisible foundation that helps the designer align the elements on the page/spread. Common grid systems are the Fibonacci Systems, the rule of thirds and a modular system. The modular is often thought to be the most flexible. Ellen Lupton, Thinking With Type, says this about the...
