Grid Systems for Visual Communication: A Graphic Design Manual

consumer 101consumer 101: Been eyeing this book for a long time and thought it had went out of print. Saw it again for $35 and bought it without hesitation.

The cover is great, vibrant and the title had a gloss varnish treatment. What weird is the quality of the inside pages. The papers felt thin, rough and cheap. With inconsistent grey across the whole book where the text would be black on some page, and grey on others. You can see some banding and ghosting on these grey pages I attached too.

Not sure what is going on, is this a pirated version?

United States on Oct 03, 2023

Amazon Customer: This book is a must for graphic designers

United Kingdom on Aug 05, 2023

Amazon Customer: I took a 3 year course in Graphic Design way back when and this is the course or knowledge I find that was missing from the curriculum.

If you're a Graphic Designer no matter what level you're at. This is a must have book in your library. A complete must for layout designers. Yes, you can read the book cover -to-cover but ideally it's just a great a reference book to get the inspiration, that quick helpful tip, and the do's and don't's of improving your layout skills.

Canada on Jun 28, 2023

Colin: Took me a while to wrap my head around the Grid System, but once you do it is a very powerful layout technique. Highly recommend.

United States on Jun 22, 2023

Riccardo Poli: Regalato ad un amico che studia graphic design, regalo azzeccatissimo.

Italy on May 11, 2023

Liam: I love the contents of the book. My only criticism is that the quality of the spine is a bit weak on the front and back of the book. mine came with a nick in the material so I just reinforced it with some white duck tape. for a $70 book I expected a higher quality print, but it's still definitely worth having a physical copy of this book over the archived pdf online.

Canada on Apr 23, 2023

Diana: All great

Germany on Mar 20, 2023

t: One thing I love about all the drawing books out now is there is something for everyone. I see things in terms of lines and mathematical equations and this book fit so well into how I draw. It was a bit hard to get used to English being on one page and German on the next, but overtime, that became easier to deal with. I almost wish they had put one of them first and then the next in the second half of the book. It might have made it easier to get through the first time.

If you like to draw with mathematical brain or you simply like things to line up, (graphic designers this really is a good book to have in your arsenal) I would suggest getting a copy. It's heavy - it's hardback after all - but it's going to last a good long time.

Well worth the money.

United States on Sep 12, 2022

Francois: This is a great book, a classic, and a must read for any graphic designer. Regardless of where you are as a designer, this information is either new to you or you've learned some variation of it somewhere. At my work place we don't do much page layout, but I wish we did. Although after reading it, I realize this type of grid system works for one page designs as well as multi-page. At first the instructions and the whole idea sounds a bit rigid but as you continue reading you begin to understand the infinite possibilities it gives you. Nowadays there's definitely a huge misconception about "Breaking the Grid". New designers and even some seasoned designers misinterpret that statement as "No grid at all". I'm not against breaking the grid, but there has to be an existing grid before you can break the grid, otherwise what are you breaking? So if you want to break the grid, you must still learn the grid. Margins don't qualify as a grid system. Another misconception is that you have to break the grid to create dynamic. That is also false. There is a such thing as dynamic use of the grid, and this classic book proves it. I love the grid and after reading this book, I recognize it more...

United States on Jun 25, 2011

R.D. Hight: If you want to go from knowing nothing about grid-based graphic design to knowing something, this is your book: accessible, clear, and narrowly focused. It forcefully explains why grids are good, how to build them, and how to zero in on the right one for a particular purpose. It's hard to imagine a new designer who wouldn't improve after reading it.

"Grid Systems in Graphic Design" is also old, short, and introductory. The author writes from a time when his preparation for a design project was to make sketches so detailed that they sometimes involved actually hand-drawing accurate copies of the typefaces he intended to use. On the subject of page proportions, he stresses the benefits of DIN sizes and moves on. His examples are great at demonstrating the clarity that comes from applying a grid to a single, flowing stream of content, but it would have been nice to have a few examples in which content has to be kept separate. A newspaper page often has 4-6 stories (plus ads) that all must be kept visually distinct. How do his "Systems" accomplish that within the grid?

This book will teach what it says on the cover. Just don't expect it to do anything more.  "The...

United States on Oct 28, 2010