“Due
to its ostensive use during this period as a compositional design matrix for
controlling the placement of typography and imagery, the modernist grid was not
visibly present in the finished design. Consequently, its symbolic aspect is
not generally recognized or even suspected. Though equally obscure in
significance, the contrasting decorative role of the grid as a prominent piece
of visual iconography in postmodernist graphic design more readily admits to a
possible symbolic function…The subsequent generation of Swiss graphic designers
expanded the applications of the mathematically drawn grid and brought it to a
level of perfection and elegance, without, however, altering its basic use as a
tool for rationally structuring and delivering factual information.”
The Grid. History, Use and Meaning, Jack Williamson
“The
typographic grid is a proportional regulator for composition, tables, pictures, etc.
It is a formal programme to accommodate x unknown items. The difficulty
is: to find the balance, the maximum of conformity to a rule with the
maximum of freedom. Or: the maximum of constants with the greatest
possible variability. The basic unit is the 10 points: the size of the basic typeface
including the lead. The text and picture area are divided at the same time into
one, two, three, four, five and six columns.”
Designing Programs, Karl Gerstner
