What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the baseline grid in InDesign?

Layouts always feel better to the eye when there is an underlying visual rhythm to the content being experienced. A baseline grid establishes a subconscious expectation for the reader about where their eye should go next as they move down through the layout, or as they move through multi-page or multiscreen experiences.

In large organizations, there are often multiple creators producing designs independent of one another. The baseline grid, along with other compositional rules within a design system, ensure a degree of visual consistency across the range of communications being created.

In my opinion, the baseline grid limits freedom when creating new designs. Unless the document is very text-heavy, which is usually not the case for public-facing marketing documents, I tend to keep the baseline grid off.

I always use a baseline grid in my designs, unless they are extremely minimal. However, I tend to avoid them during the conceptual phase of design, even when creating text-heavy design ideas. For me, placing structural limits and restrictions too early in the creative process tends to stunt my ability to come up with inventive compositions.

Always, always customize the grid. Don't blindly accept the default line spacing as the correct answer for your layouts. Each typeface requires an individual assessment of proper spacing. Use your eye. The robots don't know everything. Yet.

Customizing the baseline grid is sometimes necessary if you're using larger font sizes. The spacing between lines looks too crowded for any font size over 14.

Turning the baseline grid on or off in InDesign is a simple yet powerful tool for ensuring text alignment across your document. It's like having a secret weapon for creating visually appealing layouts. I've found that using the baseline grid not only improves the professionalism of my work but also enhances readability. Whether you're designing a multi-column report or a complex magazine layout, the ability to toggle the grid helps in fine-tuning your design. Remember, in design, sometimes the unseen elements (like grids) make the biggest impact.

Finding the right baseline grid size is specific to the typeface being used. Start with making sure your grid works for your standard text size. Next, experiment with the sizes and scale for your larger headlines and subheads and make sure your grid still feels functional when you add these into the layout. An excellent foundational reference for baseline grids (and for grids more generally) is "Grid Systems in Graphic Design" by Josef Müller-Brockman, freely available on the Internet Archive.