Grid systems have become one of the key elements in my design practice. No matter the task at hand, utilising a grid system in some form has been implemented since learning how to use the tool during my bachelor's degree. One book that is not only helping to advance my knowledge of this popular design practice but also help me to break my own grid practice in order to explore the results and expand my design process.
Making and Breaking The Grid by Timothy Samara (2017) I feel will become a staple book throughout my career. The book explores and educates on every style of grid system from hierarchical, modular and compound grids. As I relearn what I was taught on my bachelor's degree it becomes clear that this book could enable the creation of the grid systems used in user interface design. Throughout this module, Creative Studio, I am exploring the architecture of the module screen, layout possibilities and the wire-framing element of user interface design. This practice will also help build hard skills in using software such as Adobe XD, the flagship software for user interface design from the Creative Cloud Suite.
Through taking moments to read through the books first section, there are already elements that can be implemented directly into my practice that will enhance the designs, layouts and usability. On pages 58 and 59, the book focuses on-grid systems used in digital screens such as mobile phones, tablets and desktops. This simple page layout allows an insight into the generic grid system that is used throughout user interface design. With my focus being on the mobile interface, the initial layout example becomes the most useful. On the pages, there can be seen a two-column grid system that expands into seven columns when the screen dimensions expand to desktop scale. This overview of the generic grid system allows for the expansion of this through my own practice. I believe that it would be worth investigating how this standard grid system could be merged with the natural grid system that I began exploring and developing through the studio workshops. More can be read about this grid system and the process behind it in a previous blog post here.
This page layout also gave an insight into typesetting within the mobile screen layout and the integrated grid system. Throughout my skill development, theory learning and exploration into the user interface design field, many areas of screen design can be left to be created ‘by eye’. This includes the type and its scale on the mobile screen. This page shares best practice with using both serif typefaces such as Times New Roman and sans-serif typefaces such as Gotham. Size of text within user interface design is something that I believe can be a tricky balance to achieve and thanks to this book I will be exploring setting both serif and sans-serif text in sizes twelve, fifteen, ten and eight points.
Going forward I will continue to explore both the field of user interface design, its fundamentals such as the grid systems and its finer details such as text-setting best practices (and potentially breaking all of these through the process to investigate the results).
References:
Samara, T. (2017). Making and breaking the grid. (ed 2). Rockport Publishers.
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