Archive for the ‘Web Development’ Category
Why Should You Use a Grid System?
Take a given grid template etched across an otherwise blank page in the image editing or creation program of your choice, and behold its structure. It’s precise, clean, and…well, pretty boring. On first glance the concept of a grid system may seem like nothing new, or at least, nothing interesting. But lurking in the details of a well-applied grid are hidden gems of math and nature, encouraging design that can be as startling and beautiful as a coiled leaf or the intricate swirls of a snail’s shell. There are limitless ways to lay out a web page, and much of the fun of being creative consists in the ability to come up with a sense of position and space that conveys the right message. But there’s no reason why excellent standards can’t be applied as starting points. In a sense, the grid system can free designers to explore their aesthetic possibilities even further –quite a feat for a tool that comes off looking like a cage.
The grid system is the brainchild of mid-century European designers, who are pretty well-known for their fervent love of everything efficient and well-defined (think of the international A4 paper system). Since its inception, it has been applied liberally to a number of mediums, most notably typography, and has been breaking through to reach the world of web design in recent ears. Modern web designers who use the grid system applaud its ease of use and ability to create pages free from clutter or misalignments, resulting in well-spaced and harmoniously placed content every time. The format has won over firms as large as the New York Times newspaper, which implemented the grid system for its online version. These days, everything from CSS and HTML templates to original Photoshop files incorporate the style-ready lines of grid systems.
A great deal of utilities have popped up to help designers achieve great results with the grid system, as well. Two user-friendly frameworks for putting elegant, universally recognized pages together are the 960 Grid System and Blueprint, programs that let designers harness the power of the grid to propel their sites further. Designers will find that many content management systems such as Wordpress are rampant with themes and design templates that make ample use of grids to achieve a professional look.
While many efforts made with this system result in a specifically modular feel, gridded pages need not isolate their components to any significant degree. As harmony, achieved through the ancient and universal concept of the golden ratio, is at the foundation of the grid system’s appeal, the formation of an attractive and well-placed whole rather than a disparate collection of distinct parts is possible –and often more easily accomplished– with the grid in tow. If you ignore the benefits and possibilities of grid systems for web design, your pages won’t necessarily fail. But you will be missing out on one of the best marriages of nature and technology to hit the world of design in the last century.
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