Graphic Designer's Essential Reference

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Job:07-26153 Title:RP-Graphic Designer’s Essential Reference PB Edn

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001-035_26153.indd 34 7/12/11 10:32 AM

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GRAPHIC DESIGNER’S ESSENTIAL REFERENCE

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Positioning Images Dynamically

Given the regularity of proportions inher-

ent in using a grid, the potential for image

placement to feel a bit static or regular can

be a problem designers need to overcome to

produce dynamic layouts. It’s very important

to remember that a grid allows the designer to

size and position an image any way he or she

wants, as long as the image corresponds to the

columns (and rows, if the grid is modular).

Showing as much variation in arrangement

as possible helps the reader see the grid in

different ways, reinforcing its presence, while

keeping him or her from getting bored. One

way to ensure dynamic image placement

on a grid

—

on a single page, across a spread,

or from spread to spread

—

is to establish a

formula for size, proportion, and position cal-

culated to vary the composition as methodi-

cally as possible. This method, called bounce,

usually results in dynamic layout changes

from spread to spread.

Relating Full-Bleed Images to the Structure

Large images that bleed the margins offer

strong counterpoint to small images and text-

only pages; but even though the image fi lls

the entire page, it doesn’t mean it can ignore

the grid underneath. To the contrary, such

images must be scaled and positioned within

the frame of the page so that some geometric

element within aligns with the column or row

and helps articulate it.

A Columns of text may justify

to the head and foot margins,

broken by the introduction of

images into the text fi eld and

by the insertion of callouts.

This approach creates a very

dense page and emphasizes

the image proportions over

the shaping of the text, which

becomes a neutral fi eld.

B Text columns may justify to

specifi c fl owlines or module

depths, creating a very rigidly

geometric shift up and down

across the page.

C Columns may hang or

grow from margin or fl owline,

ragging in depth at the oppo-

site end. This option provides

a strong, unifying constant

that is counterbalanced by

the organic change in depth.

D Columns of the same depth

can stagger up and down,

either responding to fl owlines

and rows, or at random. The

consistency of the column

depths plays counterpoint to

the irregularity of the vertical

motion across the spread.

E The most organic approach

is one in which the columns

change depth as well as

stagger up and down. The

effect is extremely rhythmic,

with text pushing and

pulling fl uidly against the

consistency of the head and

foot margins.

Most any three-, four-, six-, or eight-column

grids will usually work well; it’s the way in

which columns of text interact with negative

space—and with each other—that truly de-

termines how a grid is articulated. The spaces

above and below columns play an active part

in giving the columns a rhythm as they relate

to each other across pages and spreads. Every

approach has a dramatic impact on the overall

rhythm of the pages within a publication,

ranging from austere and geometric to wildly

organic in feeling—all the while ordered by

the underlying grid. Changing the column

logic from section to section provides yet

another method of differ-entiating informa-

tional areas.

Column Logic and Baseline Alignment

When columns begin to separate vertically,

shifting up and down past one another—or

dropping to different depths while adher-

ing to a single hangline above—consider the

relationship between lines of text across the

gutter separating the columns. In a grouping

of columns set justifi ed, with no line breaks

(or a hard return of the same leading) between

paragraphs, the baselines between columns

will align. Any other situation, and the base-

lines between columns will not align.

In hanging columns, text will align

between columns until a paragraph change.

Because the depth of the hanging columns

changes, this might feel appropriate. A

problem will occur in a page spread set with

columns justifying top and bottom, however,

if the paragraph space introduces an uneven

line: The lines of text at the foot margin will

be noticeably off.

Effectively Using a Column Grid

understanding the options

A

B

C

D

E

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Job:07-26153 Title:RP-Graphic Designer’s Essential Reference PB Edn

#175 Dtp:204 Page:34

001-035_26153.indd 34

7/12/11 10:30 AM