Influenced by the Bauhaus movement, we were asked to create a grid system using Adobe Illustrator.
How I did it:
1. Create a new Illustrator document (File > New) using the Print pull-down menu. Choose 1 Artboard, letter size, portrait orientation (8.5 by 11 inches, as opposed to landscape orientation of 11 by 8.5 inches), and type the name the_grid.
2. Rulers can be turned on or off. They appear at the top and left side of the document window. If the rulers are off, choose View > Rulers. Right-click or Control-click on the ruler to see all of the available units of measurement. Choose inches from the pull-down menu.
The rulers now show that the Artboard measures 8.5 by 11 inches. Sometimes the horizontal rulers load with the origin at the top left edge of the document, but the vertical ruler origin is at the lower left corner of the document. To reposition the ruler origin so that it is located in the same place both vertically and horizontally, put the mouse in the top left corner of the ruler area, where the vertical and horizontal rulers seem to overlap, then click and drag to the top left corner of the page on the Artboard. Clicking and dragging from this area repositions zero on the Artboard. We do this so that we have a constant point of origin to work from and do not have to change values later.
3. In this step we will pull guides from within the document rulers.
Click on the Selection tool, then place your mouse cursor within the ruler area at the top of the document. Click on the ruler and drag the mouse downward. A guide will be set in place where you release the mouse. Release the first guide at five inches on the ruler against the left edge of the page.
4. Repeat this step for the vertical guide, by pulling from the vertical ruler on the left edge and releasing the mouse at four inches on the ruler against the top edge of the page.
Exercise 2: Lines
A line is the result of connecting any two points on a plane. Lines can be thin or thick, bumpy or smooth, dotted or solid, straight or curvy. In this exercise we make a straight, thick, black line. In later chapter exercises, you will create lines by alluding to them with repetitious single forms or by the gaze of the photographically reproduced subjects within the composition. Lines can be used to provide direction, to separate parts of the page, or to support elements on which images or typography rest. Many of the typographic visual references from the Bauhaus include heavy lines that are used to separate areas of the page and provide direction for the viewer’s gaze.
1. Press the letter d on the keypad to load the default colors into the fill and stroke icons at the bottom of the Tools panel. The default colors in any of the Adobe Creative Suite programs are black and white. The letter d on the keypad always loads black and white into the color chips in the Tools panel.
2. Click on the Line Segment tool. Clicking and dragging with this tool creates a new line. Holding the Shift key while dragging creates a new straight line. Create a new straight line across the horizontal guide.
3. Release the mouse and the line will be selected. If you click someplace off of the line and accidentally deselect it, reselect it using the Selection tool. With the line selected, look in the Control panel at the top of the document window. Notice that the line has values associated with it, including a fill color (automatically set to nothing, as signified by the red stripe across a white field), a stroke color (black) and a numeric value, indicating the weight of the stroke. Change the numeric value of the stroke weight on the line to 30 by using the pull-down menu or by typing 30 into the value box.
4. With the Selection tool, adjust the line so that it begins at about an inch into the page from the left edge. The line may extend beyond the page edge on the right side. Anything that is outside of the page, represented by the black frame of the Artboard, will not be printed.
5. Deselect the line by clicking with the Selection tool anywhere on the Artboard outside of the line’s anchor points.
Exercise 3: Using the Type tool to create a headline
Headlines are typically larger than body copy and maintain a heavier weight on the page than most other elements. The scale of the headline often relates to the scale of an accompanying photograph or illustration (it may be the same width or half of the width, for example, as a photograph on the front page of a newspaper).
1. Select the Type tool in the Tools panel.
In this exercise, Gill Sans was the typeface used for both the headline and the body copy. The ultra-bold font style creates a weighty headline, and the regular style of the typeface is very easy to read as body copy.
2. Click anywhere on the Artboard with the Type tool. Do not drag. Clicking just one time will change the Type tool into a flashing cursor. When you see the flashing cursor begin typing the headline, "Grid Systems." Illustrator is a smart program, but it doesn't know when you are finished using the Type tool. You have to tell it "I'm done." There are a few ways to do this (see the tip). When you are finished typing your headline, click on the Selection tool. The type is automatically selected as an object and the flashing cursor is gone.
3. Once the type is created, it can be edited by using the Selection tool and the Control or Character panel. If your type is not selected, click on it with the Selection tool.
4. In this exercise, we used Gill Sans Ultra Bold for the headline. While the type is selected, choose Gill Sans Ultra Bold (if you have it installed) or any other font of your choice from the Character pull-down menu either from the Control panel or from the Character panel (Window >Type > Character).
5. The font size can be edited by typing a number into the font size box in the Control or Character panel, or by scaling the type with the Selection tool. To scale the type, click on any of the four anchor points at the corners of the selected type object and drag towards (decreases the scale) or away from (increases the scale) the center of the type while holding Shift. In this exercise, the headline is 44 points.
7. Kerning is the space between the letters in a single word. When you set body copy (for instance, a letter typed in Microsoft Word), you usually do not have to be concerned with kerning. Good body fonts are created to be well-kerned at smaller font sizes (such as 9 – 12 points). However, when working with display text, such as a 44 point headline, the kerning should be studied. Traditionally, the amount of space between each letter should be even. In this exercise, we will adjust the space between the i and r in the word “Grid” and the s and t as well as the t and e in the word “Systems.” Place the type cursor just between the i and r in the word “Grid.” Click when you see that the cursor looks like a single line, which means it was successfully placed within the word.
6. Use the Selection tool to pick up the headline and move it so that the baseline is within the black line and the S in the word “Systems” is just to the right of the vertical guide.
Once the Type tool is between the i and the r in the “Grid,” use Option and the right or left arrow keys on the keypad to nudge the letters to the left or right. This is the method of manually adjusting the kerning of the display text in Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. Repeat this for the s and t and the t and e in the word "Systems."
The following two images demonstrate the word "Grid" before and after kerning.
The following two images demonstrate the word "Grid" before and after kerning.
Exercise 4: Creating body copy with the Type tool
Body copy is the content of an article, a book chapter, an essay on a web page, and so on. Body copy should be set within a text box in all of the Creative Suite programs. Body copy is usually set in rectangles, and the production artist controls how many columns of text populate a page grid.
The artist should be interested in creating legible body copy. Legible body copy is not too big, too small, too lengthy, too short, too light, or too dark. For a considerable amount of body copy (a full article, for example), the copy should be set in columns between 3.5 and 4 inches in length or 35 - 65 characters. This is the point at which many readers begin to read back over the words that they have already read. A 3.5 inch line of body copy encourages the reader to move to the next line of type at about the time that she is ready to move her eyes from right to left.
Assessing body copy is easy: squint your eyes while looking at the printed body copy. The overall grayscale value of the printed rectangle (body copy) should be about 40 – 50 percent. It should not read as stripes of black against the page. In this exercise, we will consider adjustments that can be made if the copy is too light or dark. Watch Out: If the final product will be printed, the designer should always take time to assess the printed version of the composition. It is incredibly difficult to assess printed typography on the computer screen.
2. When you click and drag instead of clicking once and entering text, the Type tool will create a text box. Create a text box at about 7.25 inches (vertically), between the two vertical guides. You can set a guide at 7.25 inches. In the example we have used a paragraph of “dummy” (or placeholder) text that graphic designers have been using since the 1500s. The text begins with the two words “Lorem ipsum,” and is often simply referred to as Lorem ipsum (i.e. “Put some Lorem ipsum in there for now, we should be receiving the copy in a couple of days”). Lorem ipsum is used as placeholder body copy when the actual text is not available, as its letters are more or less evenly distributed. Looking at “dummy text inserted here, dummy text inserted here” repeated enough times to create a block of body copy draws attention to itself with a noticeable pattern. (Fig 4.#) At the time of writing, lipsum.com offers Lorem ipsum by the word count, paragraph count, and byte count. Included in the download area of the wiki is a text file with the Lorem ipsum text used here, but if you can see the wiki, then you have access to the Internet. Assuming lipsum.com is still available, you should generate two paragraphs of text there.
1. Create a new vertical guide at the end of the last s in Systems.
3. Copy and paste the Lorem ipsum text from the web to your new text box. We used Gill Sans Regular, set in 11 points.
4. The body copy pasted into the new text box should be left-justified by default. If it is not, use the Control or Character panel to set the justification to the left. The straight alignment of letters at the left of the text box creates a virtual line that extends to the headline, as the left of the text box is aligned with the S in Systems. By the property of continuation, a line is made from the S to the body copy on the page. While this "line" created by the left margin is not as literal or heavy as the black line made in Exercise 2, it is just as relevant to the layout. It provides an intersection with the black line to further define the grid on the page.
5. Leading is the space between lines of type. The body copy is set at 11 points, and the leading is set at 15.2 points. This is traditionally referred to as 11/15.2. Insert the Type tool into any area of the body copy and then press Command+A on the keyboard to select all of the type within this type box. With all of the type selected, press Option and the down arrow key to open the leading.
In these images, the leading has been adjusted and the text box has been resized in consideration of the margin space at the right and bottom of the composition. Notice how opening or loosening the leading creates a slightly lighter grayscale value when you squint your eyes and look at the block of text.
Exercise 5: Directing the viewer with color
In this exercise, we will replace the dot over the i with a red square. Then we will copy the square to the bottom of the composition, near the start of the body copy. By repeating this form on two parts of the page, we will make a relationship between the headline and the body copy. Red is used intentionally to push the viewer’s eye from the headline to the body copy.
1. To create a focal point in the headline, replace the dot over the i in “Grid” with a red square. Removing one part of a letter is easy, but the letter must first be transformed from a line of editable text to a group of shapes.
With the Selection tool, click on the “Grid Systems” type, press the Option key, and drag the duplicate copy of the text off the Artboard. Select the original “Grid Systems” type on the Artboard and choose Type > Create Outlines.
The outlined type will be grouped together, so that all the letters would move or be transformed as a group.
2. Ungroup the type by choosing Object > Ungroup.
3. Use the Direct Selection tool to select and delete the dot over the i. When you click to select, the rest of the i will also be selected, so you need to marquee to get just the portion you want. Only marquee over the dot. Zooming in on the type will increase the likelihood of getting this the first time you try it, so don't be afraid to use the Zoom tool or Command+=. When the dot over the i is selected, press the Delete key until you see that the dot over the i is missing.
Marquee over the top half of the letter i with the Direct Selection tool, then press the Delete key.
4. With the Rectangle tool, create a square in place of the dot over the i. Change the fill color to a red hue of your choice by selecting the Color Picker or double-clicking on the fill box.
5. Duplicate the square and move it to the bottom of the composition, just above the first word in the body copy, by using the Selection tool and holding Option while dragging.
6. While the copy of the square is still selected, double-click the Scale tool in the Tools panel. Scale the square by 300%.
7. Finally, position it above the copy at the bottom of the page, to the right of the guide.
Exercise 6: Adjusting shapes with the Direct Selection tool
1. Click on the top left anchor point of the d in "Grid" with the Direct Selection tool. Notice that the anchor point increases in size as your mouse moves near it with the Direct Selection tool. Hold Shift and click on the top right anchor point of the same d to add it to the selection.
2. With only the top two anchor points of the letter d selected, expand the size of its ascender by using the up arrow key on the keypad. In this exercise, we pressed the up arrow key while holding Shift three times.
