Johnnie Shand Kydd directed this beautiful short film of design legends Richard Meier and Massimo Vignelli. They discuss grids, Meier’s new office space, and their long friendship. Would have loved for this to have been much longer, and to get into more of a design discussion, but this will do. More here.
Category: Grid Systems
Pierre Bayle Foundation Identity
Almost Modern was commissioned by The Pierre Bayle Foundation to design a new identity system. They’re still working on it, but what they’ve done so far looks fantastic. Be sure to look at AM’s full portfolio. Their work is excellent.
NYC Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual
I’ve been trying to get my hands on a copy of the NYC Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual for years now with no luck. I came very close last year when I was bidding on an eBay auction for a copy, but I lost it. I still regret not bidding higher.
Seems like these folks have better luck, because they happened to find a first edition copy in a locker beneath some old gym clothes at Pentagram’s NY office. Are you kidding me? Nope. Lucky bastards. They photographed every page and put high-res photos up on a site for us all to drool over. Enjoy.
MacDonald Educational Covers
No, not the Micky D’s that makes the delicious, but unhealthy Big Mac. These covers were from the MacDonald Educational Ltd of London and were published for the Schools Council from 1972-1973. Lovely. You can see the full set over at Wanken.
The Grid System is an Aid, Not a Guarantee
The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee. It permits a number of possible uses and each designer can look for a solution appropriate to his personal style. But one must learn how to use the grid; it is an art that requires practice.
1322px Grid
Now that 1366 is quickly becoming the most popular screen width, a 1322px grid with 22px gutters is ideal because you can divide the space into 24, 20, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 and 3 columns. This easily allows for the rule of thirds, and also leaves you with 22px margins on each side of the grid.
Seems like we’ve finally hit the point where we can work in a nice big canvas. Would be great to have a responsive CSS framework built around this configuration. Anyone up for the challenge?
Here’s a quick PSD I created with the columns.