The Secret to Perfect Design Layouts

Summary

This video tutorial explores the transformative impact of grid systems in graphic design, emphasizing their historical significance and practical applications. The host, a design expert, shares personal experiences and a step-by-step guide to setting up and utilizing modular grids in InDesign. The video covers various grid types, from one-column grids for simple layouts to complex multicolumn grids for dynamic designs. Real-world examples and a detailed walkthrough of creating a brochure layout highlight the efficiency and professionalism grids bring to design projects.

Takeaways

• 🔄 **Transformative Impact of Grid Systems**: The speaker's initial struggle with layouts was resolved by adopting grid systems, which initially seemed restrictive but ultimately provided more creative freedom.
• 📏 **Definition of Grid Systems**: A grid is defined as a framework of intersecting lines that structure content, ensuring a cohesive, balanced, and visually appealing layout.
• 🎨 **Importance of Grids in Design**: Grids are crucial for maintaining consistent layouts, aligning elements neatly, speeding up the design process, and enhancing readability and user experience.
• 🏛️ **Historical Significance**: Grid systems have a rich history, dating back to the Renaissance, where they were used by artists like Leonardo da Vinci to create balanced compositions.
• 📚 **Types of Grids**: The script outlines different types of grids including one-column, two-column, multicolumn, and modular grids, each serving different design needs.
• 💡 **Practical Applications**: The speaker shares personal projects where grid systems played a key role, demonstrating their utility in real-world design scenarios.
• 🛠️ **Setting Up a Modular Grid in InDesign**: A step-by-step guide is provided for setting up a modular grid in Adobe InDesign, emphasizing the flexibility and professional results achievable with this method.
• 🖌️ **Design Flexibility**: The modular grid's flexibility is showcased, showing how it can be adapted to create various content block arrangements within the predefined structure.
• ✍️ **Text and Image Integration**: The process of integrating text and images within the grid system in InDesign is detailed, highlighting how to maintain design coherence.
• 📈 **Efficiency and Creativity**: The use of grid systems is shown to make the design process more efficient and enjoyable, leading to professional and polished designs.
• 📘 **Recommended Resource**: The speaker recommends 'Grid Systems in Graphic Design' by Josef Müller-Brockmann as a valuable resource for further understanding and application of grid systems.

Q & A

What are grid systems, and why are they important in design?

Grid systems are frameworks of intersecting vertical and horizontal lines used to structure content. They help organize text, images, and other elements in a cohesive, balanced, and visually appealing manner. Grids ensure consistent layouts, enhance readability, speed up the design process, and make designs look more polished and professional.

How did the speaker's perception of grid systems change over time?

Initially, the speaker thought grids were too restrictive but later realized they provided more creative freedom. Without grids, their designs felt chaotic and unbalanced, but by properly integrating grids into their workflow, their designs became more cohesive and professional.

What types of grids are commonly used in graphic design?

The common types of grids in graphic design are: 1) One-column grid (ideal for straightforward layouts like books), 2) Two-column grid (useful for more complex layouts like magazines), 3) Multi-column grid (good for newspapers or websites), and 4) Modular grid (a matrix of cells perfect for dynamic layouts like brochures and posters).

How have grid systems evolved historically?

Grid systems have been around since the Renaissance when artists like Leonardo Da Vinci used them to create balance in their works. Early grids helped shape modern design, allowing for neat and clean organization of elements.

What are the key components of a grid?

A grid typically consists of columns, gutters (spaces between columns), margins, and rows. These elements provide a predefined structure that organizes content and helps create a unified and visually appealing design.

Can you give examples of how the speaker used grids in their own design projects?

The speaker used grids in several design projects, including a 4-column grid for a brand style sheet, a 6-column and 48-field grid for brand guidelines and posters, and a 12-column 60-field grid for detailed brand guidelines. These grids helped create balanced, engaging designs for clients.

What are the advantages of using a modular grid?

A modular grid provides both vertical and horizontal divisions, allowing for a more dynamic and varied layout. It is highly flexible and helps designers create a balanced and professional look by offering numerous options for arranging content.

How does sketching out ideas before using InDesign help in the design process?

Sketching ideas first helps visualize the final layout and ensures that the design follows the grid system. Accurate sketches guide the digital design process, making it faster and ensuring that the layout is well-organized and balanced.

What tool and settings did the speaker use to create a modular grid in InDesign?

The speaker used Adobe InDesign to create a modular grid. They set the document to A4 with a 3mm bleed and adjusted margins and columns through the master page. The speaker also created guides for a modular grid with four columns and eight rows, setting the gutter to 5mm.

What book does the speaker recommend for learning more about grid systems in design?

The speaker recommends the book 'Grid Systems in Graphic Design' by Josef Müller-Brockmann, which they found highly valuable in improving their designs and understanding of grid systems.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Discovering the Power of Grid Systems

The speaker initially struggled with creating clean and organized layouts until they discovered grid systems. Initially skeptical, they found that grids actually increased their creative freedom by providing structure. Without grids, their designs felt chaotic. After learning to set up and integrate grids into their workflow, their designs became more cohesive, professional, and visually appealing, impressing clients and speeding up their workflow. The speaker introduces themselves and their channel, which focuses on helping logo and brand identity designers. They promise to teach the essentials of grid systems in graphic design, including their importance, types, practical applications, and a step-by-step guide to setting up and designing with a modular grid in InDesign.

05:02

📐 Setting Up a Modular Grid in InDesign

The speaker demonstrates how to set up a modular grid in Adobe InDesign. They guide viewers through creating a new document, setting page intent, dimensions, margins, and columns. They explain the importance of setting up the master page correctly, as changes made here affect all pages. The process involves adjusting margins, creating guides for rows, and ensuring the grid is flexible for various content arrangements. The speaker shows how to create a balanced and professional layout using the grid system in InDesign.

10:03

🖌️ Working with Text and Images in the Grid

The speaker discusses how to work with text and images within the grid system in InDesign. They explain the process of setting typefaces, font sizes for headers, body copy, and captions. The speaker also demonstrates how to add page numbers and footnotes to the master page, ensuring consistency across all pages. They highlight the flexibility of the grid system, showing how it can be adapted to create different content blocks and layouts. The speaker emphasizes the importance of planning and sketching before designing digitally to ensure a well-organized and visually appealing final product.

15:05

📘 Sketching and Converting Ideas into Digital Layouts

The speaker shares their process of sketching out design ideas in a sketchbook before converting them into digital layouts in InDesign. They emphasize the importance of following the modular grid system in sketches to visualize the final design effectively. The speaker demonstrates how they recreated the designs from their sketches, focusing on the placement of headlines, images, and body copy. They discuss the trial and error process of finding the right balance of images and text, ultimately deciding that larger images worked better for the project. The speaker concludes by showing the final designs, highlighting the importance of grids in organizing and enhancing the overall look and feel of a project.

20:18

📖 Final Thoughts on Grid Systems in Design

In the concluding paragraph, the speaker reflects on the value of grid systems in design, emphasizing how they help create well-balanced and visually appealing layouts that effectively communicate the message. They encourage viewers to subscribe for more content and recommend a book on grid systems for further learning. The speaker summarizes the benefits of using grid systems, such as improved organization and design quality, and shares their personal experience of how it positively impacted their work.

Keywords

💡Grid Systems

Grid systems are a fundamental concept in graphic design, referring to a framework of intersecting vertical and horizontal lines that structure content. They help organize text, images, and other elements in a cohesive, balanced, and visually appealing manner. In the video, the speaker emphasizes how initially they found grids restrictive but later realized they provided more creative freedom by giving structure to their designs, leading to professional and visually appealing outcomes.

💡Creative Freedom

Creative freedom in the context of the video refers to the ability to create designs that are both structured and flexible. The speaker discovered that using grid systems actually enhanced their creative freedom by providing a structured framework within which they could experiment and innovate. This is exemplified by the transformation of their designs from chaotic and unbalanced to cohesive and professional after integrating grids into their workflow.

💡Cohesive

A cohesive design is one where all elements work together harmoniously to create a unified whole. In the video, the speaker discusses how grid systems help achieve a cohesive look by ensuring consistency across different pages and elements. This is crucial for maintaining a brand's identity and delivering a clear message to the audience.

💡Professional

A professional design is polished, well-organized, and conveys a sense of quality and trustworthiness. The video highlights how the use of grid systems can elevate the quality of designs, making them look more professional. This is evident in the speaker's account of how clients noticed a positive difference in their work after they started using grids.

💡Workflow

Workflow in design refers to the sequence of steps or processes involved in creating a design project. The video script mentions that integrating grid systems into the speaker's workflow made their design process faster and more efficient. This improvement in workflow is attributed to the systematic placement of elements that grids facilitate.

💡Modular Grid

A modular grid is a complex type of grid system with both horizontal and vertical divisions, creating a matrix of cells that can hold different types of content. It is ideal for dynamic and varied layouts like brochures and posters. The video provides an example of setting up a modular grid in InDesign, demonstrating its flexibility and how it can be used to create balanced and professional layouts.

💡InDesign

InDesign is a professional layout and design software used for creating a variety of print and digital media. The video script includes a tutorial on setting up a modular grid in InDesign, which is a practical application of grid systems in a real-world design tool. This demonstrates how theoretical concepts of grid systems are applied in industry-standard software.

💡Brand Identity

Brand identity encompasses the visual elements that represent a brand, such as logos, typography, and color schemes. The video mentions helping logo and brand identity designers, indicating that grid systems play a crucial role in establishing and maintaining a consistent brand identity across various design projects.

💡Readability

Readability in design refers to the ease with which text can be read and understood. The video script explains that properly structured grids enhance the readability of text, which is essential for the overall user experience. This is particularly important for designs that involve a lot of textual content, such as books, magazines, or websites.

💡Historical Background

The historical background of grid systems mentioned in the video refers to their origins in the Renaissance period, where artists and architects used grids to create balance in their works. This context shows that grid systems have a long-standing tradition and have been instrumental in shaping the way designs are organized and structured over time.

💡Types of Grids

The video script outlines different types of grids in graphic design, such as one-column, two-column, multicolumn, and modular grids. Each type serves different layout purposes and complexities, from straightforward layouts like books to more complex ones like magazines or websites. Understanding these types is essential for choosing the appropriate grid system for a design project.

Highlights

The speaker used to struggle with making layouts look clean and organized until discovering grid systems.

Initially, the speaker thought grids were too restrictive, but later realized they provided more creative freedom.

Without a grid, designs felt chaotic and unbalanced despite efforts to arrange elements perfectly.

The speaker's designs became more cohesive, professional, and visually appealing after integrating grids.

Clients noticed the difference in the quality of designs when the speaker started using grid systems.

Grids ensure a consistent layout across different pages and elements, creating a unified look.

Grids help align elements neatly, bringing order and clarity to the design.

Properly structured grids enhance the readability of text and the overall user experience.

Grids allow for creative flexibility within a defined framework, often resulting in polished and professional designs.

Grid systems have been used since the Renaissance to create balance in art and architecture.

The types of grids in graphic design include one column, two column, multicolumn, and modular grids.

The speaker shares examples of how different grid systems were used in their own design projects.

A modular grid creates a matrix of cells that can hold different types of content, suitable for dynamic layouts.

The speaker demonstrates how to set up a modular grid in InDesign for creating brochure pages.

Margins and gutters are set within the master page to affect all pages in the document.

Guides are created for the modular grid to provide a structure for designing within InDesign.

The speaker shows how flexible the grid is by demonstrating different content block arrangements.

The speaker explains how to work with a modular grid in InDesign, including adding text, images, and setting page numbers.

Sketching out ideas following the modular grid helps in visualizing the final design before digital implementation.

The speaker shares the final designs, emphasizing how the grid system helped create balanced and visually appealing layouts.

The speaker recommends the book 'Grid Systems in Graphic Design' by Josef Müller-Brockmann for further learning on grid systems.

Transcripts

ever feel like your designs are missing

that professional touch in my career I

used to struggle with making layouts

look clean and organized until I

discovered the power of grit systems at

first I thought grits were too

restrictive but then I realized they

actually gave me more creative freedom

without a grit my designs felt chaotic

and unbalanced no matter how hard I

tried to arrange the elements perfectly

I spent hours streaking my layouts only

to end up first Tred with the final

result I felt like I was never getting

it right so then I decided to give grits

a real try I learned how to set them up

properly and integrate them into my

workflow and the results my designs came

more cohesive professional and Visually

appealing clients noticed the difference

and my workflow became faster and more

efficient now I'm excited to share these

gr system techniques with you by the end

of this video you will see how grads can

transform your designs and make your

creative process smoother and more

enjoyable hey my name is and from tyu on

this channel I help logo and brand

identity designers to make their design

life easier by sharing my experiences

and knowledge in this video you will

learn the essentials of grid systems in

graphic design including their

importance types practical applications

and a stepbystep guide on setting up and

designing with a modular grid in in

design so first I want to cover the

definition and importance of grid

systems what is a grid a grid is a

framework of intersecting vertical and

horizontal lines used to structure

content it helps organized text images

and other elements in a cohesive

balanced and Visually appealing manner a

grd typically consists of columns

gutters the spaces between the columns

margins and r

so why are grids important grids ensure

a consistent layout across different

pages and elements creating a unified

look they help align elements neatly

bringing order and Clarity to the design

by providing a predefined structure

grids speed up the design process and

make it easier to place elements

systematically properly structured grids

enhance the readability of text and the

overall user experience despite their

structured nature grits allow for

Creative flexibility within the defined

framework use of grits often result in

designs that look more polished and

professional making a positive

impression on the audience so when we

are looking at the historical background

of git systems grid systems have been

around since the

Renaissance when artists and Architects

wanted to create balance in their Works

Pioneers like Leonardi Da Vinci used

grids to plan their designs ensuring

everything looked just right these early

grids helped shape the way we organize

and structure designs today ensuring

they are neat and clean so now I want to

cover the types of grids and graphic

design so the types of grids and graphic

design are we have the one column grid

this is the simplest type perfect for

straightforward layouts like books or

essays everything is arranged in one

single column making it easy to read

then we have the two column grd this

type defines the pages into two columns

grade for more complex layouts like

magazines or newsletters and it allows

more flexibility and variation in design

then we have the multicolumn grid this

grid splits the page into three or more

columns it's ideal for newspapers or

websites providing lots of options for

arranging text and images and then we

have the modular grid this grid is a bit

more complex with both horizontal and

vertical divisions it creates a matrix

of cells that can hold different types

of content it's perfect for more Dynamic

and varied layouts like brochures and

posters so I wanted to share some real

examples of how I've used different grd

systems in my own design projects these

grids help keep everything organized

balanced and Visually appealing I want

to share with you seven projects where

GRS played a crucial role so we have the

brand star sheet I used a simple four

column grd for a clean and straight

forward brand Styles sheet we have the

Offa brand guidelines which utilized a

more detailed four column 32 field grid

allowing flexibility and precision we

have the brand guidelines for M and

where I use six columns and a 48 field

grid to present M and half's extensive

guidelines clearly and engagingly we

have the m and half posters which also

consist out of six columns and a 48

field grid we have the posers for MAA

where I use four columns and a 32 field

grid it allowed me to create a balanced

and engaging design the Mila brand

guidelines I use a 12 columns sexy field

grid for this detailed brand guidelines

to ensure everything fits perfectly the

post source for hyper hiive is a square

grid I created a square grid for hyper

High posters to create modern and

dynamic layouts now we have seen these

examples I want to show you guys how to

set up a modular Grid in InDesign we are

in my InDesign now and let's set up a

modular grid here first thing we want to

do is we want to go to file click on new

document uh for this we want to set the

intent to print because we are going to

create a brochure or brochure Pages for

the Miler modern furniture brochure

click on A4 that's all right um for now

we set facing pages

off and we set the bleed to three mm 3

mm is kind of a default um uh have for

print when working with print so for the

margins and columns we are going to uh

leave it at the default right now and we

are going to um set these apply these in

and design itself so press on create so

now we have the um A4 page in in design

we are going to add some more pages

because we are going to create different

layouts in the

end uh what we can what we are going to

do now we are going to set the margins

in the master page

so if you don't have the pages panel

open you can click on window and click

on pages and on the top over here we

have the a parent and this is the a

master page and you can see all the

pages are connected to this to this a

master page because it has this little a

on the top of the page so to adjust the

a master page the a parent we want to

double click onto this page and now we

are in the master page um and everything

we do in this master page will have

effect

on the um on all pages so if you create

a box which is

green you can see it applies to all

pages so we are going to delete this

right now first of all yeah we want to

uh set the margins so what we are going

to do is press on layout margins and

columns um and here we want uh the

margins to be 15 mm

we want to we want them to be 15 m m

everywhere only at the bottom part we

want 25 mm because we want to have some

room to add a footnote or page uh

numbers so for the columns we are going

to set uh four

columns with a gutter of 5

mm and press an

okay so what we want to do now is we

want want to create the

guides for the modular grid so what we

want to do is we go to layout again uh

create

guides and for the number uh we want to

make sure this the preview is

on and for the number of rows we want to

have eight

rows as you can see it creates these

nice uh rectangular uh boxes within the

monolog red

this is a nice uh shape to work with so

the gutter I will set it to five as well

and you want to make sure the option fit

to guides fed guides to is on margins

and not on page because it will create

when you set it to Page these little

weird boxes on the top and on the bottom

so we want to make sure this is on

margins uh columns we already have set

and press on okay so now you can see we

have a modular grid with four columns

and a 30 field uh grid and this grid is

highly flexible as well so for example

we can now make sure click out of the

master

page and press on the first p double

click on the first page and now you can

see all pages have the same layout

because we have set the margins and the

rows to the a parent so now we can uh um

start now I want to show you how

flexible this grid is I'm just going to

pick a

color and we

can create like split the grid into four

boxes blocks content blocks but we can

also split it

into the grid into two content blocks

and also uh

in column blocks content blocks with um

uh double height with two boxes and we

can also like make one big box out of it

so here you can see the uh Varity you

can create with this uh within this grid

so this model grid provides plenty of

options to create a balanced and

professional

layout designing with a modo grid and

end design now I'll show you how to work

with a modo grid and IND design so I

will add in some text uh images and I

will set page numbers and a footnote

before I start designing so I have a

document over here with some text in it

I'm just going to copy

it into my in design file

so this is uh header

one this is the header

two this is header

three we have some body

copy this Tex is all in default right

now and I'm going to um oh this is also

body copy going to

apply a style to it when it's all copied

so this is text for the

caption so this is some fake text where

I'm going to work with and uh for the

header um I'm going to set the type face

which I

use the type face I use for uh the Mila

brand identity is um not has

grotesque so I'm going

to set the header in medium I'm going

for a big headline for the header which

will be on the cover of of the

page for something like 87 78

okay for the second header which will be

a little bit

smaller I will

set also the type face to

medium and then let's go

with something like 48 for the second

header

and then

for the third had

a has TK also to a

medium and we'll just leave this in the

same size as the body

copy so the body copy will be the same

miss the head of

tree um so what I can do is select the

text press on the uh ink drop tool and

then click on the head of tree so it

copies the same uh preferences as a

header but the difference with this one

is I want to set the text to

light so we have a nice small header

which can be used together with the text

and then for the caption I will use the

same uh size as a body copy but I will

make it a little bit smaller something

like eight

points and probably 10 points in height

okay this looks quite

good so this is something we can work

with so now we have set the text and I

have uh an folder with images ready to

use on my

computer what I want to do now is I want

to uh set page numbers to the master

page and this will be the

same text size as the uh the caption so

what we want to do is we want to move on

to the double click in the master page

on the a parent press on W to see the

grid

and then uh we are going to place it

Down

Below on the bottom of the page so first

we want to make sure we know this size

the top

margin can draw a box and then drop it

to the bottom part so we know where to

place the

text

okay so over here I want to add a

footnote uh let's make it

brochure

Mila Mila mod

Furniture

okay place it on top of the box this is

will be a nice size and then the same

for the page

numbers select this text box

and drag it with holding option and

shift to the right

side we are going to create page numbers

of these um for now we're just going to

set an

A and we want to align the text to the

right zoom in a little

bit and make sure it aligns to

the right side of the page

okay I'm not sure why I don't see any

guides any smart guides at the

moment um gr and guides smart guyses are

on

okay okay let's just draw

a guide then and apply it to it okay so

to set page

numbers in the M parent you want to

select the head text where you want to

add the page numbers go to type insert

special character go to markers and

current page number and because we have

set this text to the master

page this this text is applied to all

pages in The

Brochure so for example if we go to page

three

we also have page number three over here

on page six we have page number six

before starting designing an in design I

sketch out as many ideas as possible in

my Sketchbook I make these sketches

small and ensure they follow the modular

grid the goal here is to quickly

visualize how the final designs will

look accurate sketches make it easier to

imagine the final result here are the

sketches for the Mila modern furniture

brochure based on a four column 30 field

grid this grid allows me to split the

page nicely into sections I focused on

where the headline will go where images

can be placed and where the body copy

should be by planning and sketching

first I ensure my designs are well

organized and make the best use of the

grid system now let's see how to work

with grids and in design by converting

my sketches into a digital layout we'll

cover Dimensions scaling topography and

images with these sketches next to me I

will be starting recreating the designs

I think have the most potential I sped

up this process because it can get

lengthy in real

time you can see I try a few options

here for the cover

I use one of the saved images and test

different background colors to make the

cover stand out

next I move on to the content

Pages here I appli the topography system

I set up the titles intro text

body copy and

captions sometimes a design that looks

good on paper doesn't work well as well

digitally this can happen if there is a

lag of balance in the

design I've worked out several layout

options both on paper and digitally and

I tried using small images with more

text and large images with less text

ultimately I found that pages with

larger images work better for Mila this

might be because the images are

beautiful and work well in a larger

format

in the end I spent about 20 minutes

sketching out layouts and working them

out digitally it really speeds up this

design process and it takes out the

guessing work these are the final

designs I came up

with in the end using a grid system

helps create well balanced visually

appealing layouts that effectively

communicate the message this process

highlights the importance of grids and

Design showing how they help organize

and improve the overall look and feel of

a project if you found value in this

video please consider subscribing and

maybe check out one of my other valuable

videos and by the way if you like gr

systems and you want to work with them I

really recommend this book grit systems

and graphic design by Yosef Müller

Brockman it's a real good read this

really improved my designs peace