Introduction to grids II

The grid is a commonly used term in many fields like architecture, mathematics, engineering and design and its meaning varies from guidelines, framework, supporting structure, channel of material flow to network of information flow. The use of grid for visual layouts is not at all new. In visual art we can find the inscriptions and the evidences of grid from the medieval period or even before.
 
In Europe, the early form of grid was mainly point based which during the renaissance period gained the form of field based Cartesian grid. Whereas in India, the grid was always a part of tradition and it has been practiced with the faith to the extent of religious doctrine. It had a large variety in form and application . Past few centuries the meaning of grid has shifted from interface between physical and super-physical worlds to interface between physical world and its perception by the rational cognition. (Williamson, 1986)

The modern grid which is in contemporary use was fully developed in its current form and use by second decade of twentieth century. In the early twentieth century the philosophical trend which denies ‘art for art sake’ started emerging in the form of constructivism. This concern for usability contributed to the foundation of new design. Around the same time the first design school, Bauhaus school, started in Germany which has a great impact on the modern design. This new design philosophy was inclined towards rationalism and minimalism. Bauhaus, departed from traditional patterns of decoration style, was quite open for experimentation. Soon it got influenced by Theo van Doesberg’s Stijl movement with strong dogma of geometry. This had established the beauty in simple forms with straight lines and right angles removing the all unnecessary curvatures and angularity. Obviously such design identified the rectangular grid with vertical and horizontal guidelines as a very essential tool and became popular in the group of theoreticians in academia. It was Jan Tschichold, trained as a calligrapher through the craft tradition, who was responsible in popularizing the use of grid in typography. Inspired by him many graphic designers like Max Bill, Emil Ruder, and Josef Müller-Brockmann started practicing and advocating the rectangular grid. (Samara, May 2005)

Design came to India in 1970s but before that the faculty of Art started serving to the design need in the name of commercial arts. Even now we can see the artists and designers working together on design solutions. The grid in typography came to India as well and being practiced by Indian typographers and designers with the equal proficiency. The major challenge and opportunity they addressed was the variety of vernacular languages in India. But the grid was not given much attention in that regard to look for the vernacular forms and functions of grid.

Introduction to grids- I

Contemporary design and research into design is a century young field. Grid is a well known and well studied tool in graphic design, especially in print media and typography. It generally consists of a fixed set of guidelines. Although it plays an important role in design process it always remained underneath the visual discourse of communication. In visual communication, the visual space is not just a medium but itself becomes the agent of communication which engages with the viewer. For any two dimensional display, this space can be in the form of any plane surface- from ancient stone wall to hi-tech digital screen. The communication through this 2D space is the function of the individual visual elements, their interrelationship and the distribution of space. Grid, as a syntactic device, can provide the basic framework at each of these levels and more than that as an expression of a certain mental attitude it can induce the culture to the upcoming visual. Designer Massimo Vignelli promotes the grid as the greatest tool in terms of controlling the space.

While explaining the need of grid, Joseph Muller Brockmann says, “The designer’s work should have the clearly intelligible, objective, functional and aesthetic quality of mathematical thinking. His work should thus be a contribution to general culture and itself form part of it. Every visual creative work is a manifestation of the character of the designer. It is a reflection of his knowledge, his ability and his mentality.
As a controlling system the grid makes it easier to give the surface or space a rational organization.”

This tool, well known in practice, has hardly any literature in the design research domain. As a researcher, I feel that the contemporary concept of grid is limited to a small area of application and it has lot more potential. As a device, the grid is exploited in the field of typography but rarely appears in the discussion of any non typographic design applications. Etymologically the very concept of grid is still deprived of the proper attention in the research domain. The grid in use is limited, even though not restricted, to create rectangular space distribution which is used to decide the placement of elements and their alignment in vertical and horizontal direction. Grid is employed for the arrangement of different elements but hardly for the shaping of the internal structure of element. It would be worth to deconstruct the concept of grid from typography to overcome its limitations and to make it open for new explorations. Undoubtedly many interesting experiments are done under deconstruction but there are hardly any efforts to theorize it.

My study of Indian traditional art practices gave few interesting insights to pursue the deep inquiry about grid in the area of Classical arts. I will share those insights sometime later. First we need to locate the grids in design on the historical grounds.

What is this blog about?

Welcome to my blog.

Before I start posting on this blog let me give the background of this blogging activity.


Who am I and What is this blog about?
I am a designer by training and profession. I did my masters in design in 2006 from Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay. I studied visual communication for two years. Before joining IDC, I completed my bachelors in Mechanical engineering and studied product design at IIT Kanpur.
After my MDes from IDC, I worked in an e-learning company for a while but the experience was a bit disappointing. Then for a short period I was meditating on what should I do in my life with a career in design. While finding my way ahead I was working as a research assistant with Prof. A. G. Rao for a craft sector. That was quite an educational and inspirational experience to conduct workshops for craftsmen working in Bamboo crafts.
Finally I decided to go for doctoral studies in design. Considering the topic I had in my mind, I preferred to to my PhD in India.
In 2007, I joined IDC as a research student. After a year of basic course work and readings in design field I narrowed down my research topic to- "Grids in Graphic design". I will post my research bit by bit and discuss few topics tuned with it. If you have any queries or doubts please feel free to contact me.

That's it! Let me start.