Reaction to “Making and Breaking the Grid”
Written by: Cari Saiki-Dela Cruz
The grid, as defined by the Oxford American College Dictionary, is “a framework of spaced bars that are parallel to or crossing each other; a grating” or “a network of lines that gross each other to form a series of squares or rectangles.” Though the grid is obviously important to graphic design and photography, it is interesting to study because it pervades every aspect of life as seen in the images above. Its structure can be found in nature, cities, and art.
Contrary to the dictionary definition, however, grids are not always composed of perpendicular or parallel lines, especially in nature. Sometimes they consist of or result in curved or angled lines. The first two images, of the shell and diagram, is an example of this. In nature, the spiral of the shell is determined by the Fibonacci sequence, which, here, has been shown as a grid. Other natural grids include spider webs and beehives. Though grid use in art and design can be traced back to the Roman and Greek Empires, nature has used it as a foundation for creation for much longer.
The third image, of the London railway system, is a prime example of the grid used today, in urban cultures. When looking at major cities, you realize that they would not succeed if it were not for the grid. It is used as the primary means of organizing maps, zoning cities, and building architectural structures. If poorly designed, however, it can complicate many lives by creating traffic delays, misleading people to wrong places, or even causing bodily harm if a physical structure were to collapse. People also use the grid to map time, through systems such as calendars and clocks. It helps us structure and organize the chaos of our lives, while also being the source of many headaches when used improperly.
The grid dictates most layouts found in graphic design, photography, and art. You either work with it or against it, but it is nevertheless the foundation to build work off of. The grid works naturally with graphic design, however, because it helps you to communicate ideas more effectively. Though other devices are used for this (such as understanding that in Western culture most people approach pages from the top left hand corner and progress to the bottom right) the grid provides a logical order that others, not a part of the field, can understand. Therefore, the notion of breaking the grid and lacking such a structure is odd because it becomes more difficult for accurate expression. Yet, when examining the examples provided in Timothy Samara’s book “Making and Breaking the Grid”, you notice that breaking it could simply mean cropping letters, overlaying shapes (not only rectangles) to imply a grid, using angled lines or working with a Z-axis. It seems that, in graphic design, the broken grid is similar to the grid found in nature, which does not rely on purely rectangular shapes.
The grid, found in nearly every aspect of life, is both daunting and necessary for graphic design, photography, and art. It’s universality makes it an ideal tool for communicating thoughts and ideas.