Grid Systems & Layout Design: Explore the power of grids for creating balanced and visually appealing interfaces
Prithiv Kumar
Founder @ Cyanic | Senior UX Product Designer @ Nissan | Offered 1000+ masterclasses in UI/UX| T Shaped UX Designer I Figma expert | Masters in Psychology I Ex - Amazon | #XR #VR #AI #UX
Are you among the people who have thought, why do some interfaces look so easy to navigate and others make me feel i am in a maze.
One such unsung hero who ensures we all have a good time online is the grid system.
This newsletter is all about the magic of grids and how this element helps create balanced, aesthetically pleasing layouts.
What are Grid Systems?
Think of a grid over your design space - rows and columns via horizontal lines and vertical. The invisible grid acts as a skeleton, giving your design elements structure and helping establish order or hierarchy.
Why Use Grid Systems?
Consistency & readability - Grids maintain a steady rhythmic beat of negative space between elements, helping to establish patterns which can be read and understood at a glance. The know where to find because it will look similar and they cab get round easily.
Visual Hierarchy: The use of a grid can help immediately place the different elements within your design in relation to each other. You cleverly position elements on the grid giving you an attractively and rhythmically laid layout.
Responsive & scalable - Grid systems make it easy to create solutions that adapt easily for various screens sizes. Grid layouts have traditionally worked well across different devices, from desktops to mobile phones.
Types of Grid Systems:
There are a lot of different grids suited to different design requirements. Here are a few common ones:
Column Grids: Stacks content in vertical columns for order; Simple but lacks design variety
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Modular Grids: Modular grids take column set up further and use horizontal rows to create a matrix-like structure which offers way more flexibility for complex layout work.
Many folk really like to snap their content whether it be text or images (for a grid for example), but here are headlines that counter-balance this and come with the importance
Baseline Grids: Focuses on horizontal spacing, offering consistent readability line height across all your textual details.
Multi Grids: Mixes different types of grids to form sections with levels - how much weight a section holds.
Ready to Use Grids?
Built-in grid systems are practically always available in design software. Some of these sources can be to get you started:
Grid Systems in Graphic Design – Josef Müller-Brockmann- the original reference on grid systems
Grid Systems: Mastering Responsive Web Design by Alastair Gunn - This is a very good book for using grids in web design and its practical guide.
Free Grid System Templates : This host a bunch of pre-made grid templates for various design applications. Free Grid System Templates
Grid systems are an indispensable aid in many a designer's arsenal. They will enable you to put UI together quickly and in a visually appealing, user-friendly manner.
Feeling inspired? Also, show us your favourite grid system resources or design a layout using a grid and tag me on Linkedin!
Design with structure!