- When I first began my career as a designer,
we still used a T-square and triangle.
When I began a layout, the first step was to draw a grid.
I did this by hand with a blue pencil and ruler.
I know this sounds like the same story my grandfather told,
I trudged through the snow five miles to get to school,
but making a grid today is radically easier.
The first step in creating a grid
is to determine the size of the piece.
As we discussed previously,
the format is dependent on content,
technical issues and production cost.
Once I know what size page or screen I am using,
I can sketch out some variations.
Josef Muller-Brockman was a master at this approach
and I follow the same.
Now, bear with me,
I do this by hand.
I find it's faster to sketch variations
rather than using the computer right away.
I play with a copy and images in sketch form,
playing out various formats.
Once I focused on a specific approach,
I begin working on the computer.
I use Adobe InDesign to create a grid.
I also work in picas.
A pica is a type of graphic unit of measure.
Since the type uses points and picas,
the grid should also.
I use the master page and start with the margins.
I prefer generous margins.
When they are typed to the trim,
I think the page looks too dense.
If you're working on a publication,
keep in mind that the bottom of the page
may be where the marker is,
so you need extra space there.
Next, I determine how many columns I need.
They shouldn't be so narrow
that the copy has too many line breaks,
and they shouldn't exceed the 52 character rule.
If the project is simple, I may only need two equal columns.
If the content is more complex, I use more columns,
and this gives me the freedom to use one
or many columns at a time.
Then I look at the horizontal hang lines.
I use the feature, create guides, to plan this.
I divide the space within the margins and add the guides.
If they turn out to be awkward once I begin the layout,
I can always go back to the master page and change them.
Finally, if I'm working on a publication,
I add the guides for the marker.
I want these to be consistent on each page.
So I set this up on the master page.
When I finish these steps,
I'm ready to bring in the images, texts
and any other elements
and start bringing this bare skeleton to life.