New A2 Experimentation

I have been experimenting with layout for my A2 posters. I need to come up with a way of consistently using the text in the A2 literature. I think that the grid is too complex to simply suggest that the text is used to form an asymmetric composition like I have done for the A4 literature.

This is the image placed behind the gridded structure before I start to remove areas of the image. I think that this is going to work really effectively. I can already see that the image is going to be more interesting because of the more complex grid structure. 

This is my first attempt at removing areas of the grid. I actually really like it, I think it works effectively. The areas of removed grid make a very interesting complicated and asymmetric pattern. The black and white imagery works well with the colour scheme of the squares. I also like the size of the typography workshop logo. It is rather small because it fits with the size of the gutter in the A2 grid but I do not mind this. I think that it suits the overall composition more and creates a more sophisticated poster, but I will try and experiment with a larger logotype. 

This is the larger logotype. It is doubled in size. I do not like it at all, I think that it looks a little rediculous and it no longer fits in the gutter of the grid which means that I have broken one of my rules that I have created for this work. Also, I think that the type needs work. I was trying to follow the vertical line through the composition but I think that it is now conflicting with the rather complex and delicatate image to the right. I think that because this image is so complex then the type should be simple and horizontal. I need to find a way to make the type consistent across all of the posters. I am going to keep experimenting with layout for type and also revert the tw logo back to its original size that fits into the grid. 

Again, here I am really struggling with trying to create type that is pleasing on the eye, creates an aysemmetric layout and is also easy to read. The way that the type cuts into the image here looks very awkward. Perhaps I should create type that fits into a containing box? I need to somehow make the type simpler as it is getting lost here in the composition. 

This is much better, I think that I am approaching a solution here. The containing box will hold all of the type that needs to be displayed on the poster. This has made the overall composition a lot tighter. I like the way that the vertical image has been broken by this strong horizontal rectangle. Now, the text does not look randomly placed. It is a much more powerful use of type and the viewer now has an immediate place to look. I quite like the way that the image is viewed after the text is read. 

I am experimenting with layout for type. I need somewhere for the logo to go. At the minute, its position in the bottom left hand corner is effecting the overall balance of the composition. It looks completely out of place. 

This is a much better placement of the logo. I have now had another thought though. Perhaps It is a bit of an overkill on weight to have the containing text box in one of the pantone colours? I am going to try creating a containing text rectangle that is white in colour and see how this effects the overall feel of the poster. 

This is much better. The text area feels lighter and generally the composition is more aesthetically pleasing. There is now more emphasis on the interesting image and the logo looks more comfortable on a white background (Im going to make a white background  a requirement for my style guide for all typography workshop design). 

I have had a thought however, I have 5 pantone colours in the TW range of colours. I could make 5 coloured grids, each with a different pantone colour as a primary focus. I would still use all of the colours in the grid, but I would use one of them more heavily than the others. This should separate the coloured grids for each poster. Then, these could be used to create posters in a series. This way, all of the posters in the series are slightly different in overall colour. I think this would be a really effective idea and I am going to try it. 

the pantone grids A2

These are my five pantone grids. They also illustrate the pantone that I have used, though this is just for the purpose of demonstrating the pantone which appears more frequently and would not be seen in final designs. My idea is that the designer creates one of these coloured patterns before he places his image, text box areas, type and logo. I think they have worked really well. Although they all use the whole pantone range, You can clearly see that one pantone appears more frequently than the other. I think that I also need a general pantone coloured pattern for use when there is no need for a series of posters to be produced and all of the information is on one poster. 

This is the general grid. I really love the intricacy of it. Throughout all of these I have made sure that when a module and a gutter that are next to each other are coloured that they are different colours. I am now going to try and use these six coloured pantones to create six posters. The posters will be created as if they are a set. They will contain information about masterclasses with famous typographers who I admire. It will be my dream typography masterclass series. I will also include varying amounts of information to show possibilities of type layout within my system. 

new A2 grid

My grid across all Typography Workshop literature is now strictly composed of a 4mm gutter and a 14mm column width.
The size of an a2 piece of paper is 594 x 420
in total, the width of the column and gutter is 18mm, so if i divide the width of an a2 paper, 420 mm/ 18 I get  23.3

So If I had a grid that was 22 columns in width

The modules-
22 x 14 = 308mm

The gutter-
21 x 4 = 84mm

308 + 84 = 392mm
420/392mm = 28mm
This is going to give to small a margin of 14mm left and right which I do not think is large enough on A2 format.
Therefore, I am going to try the calculations again with 21 columns.

For the modules-

21 x 14 = 294mm

For the gutter-
20 x 4 = 80mm

294 + 80 = 374mm

420 - 374 = 46mm

So, we have a left and right margin of 23mm which I feel is a lot more adequate and will allow me to create compositions that are much more balanced and less awkward to look at.


For the rows, we have 594 mm to play with

594/18mm = 33


So if we have 30 rows


The modules-
30 x 14 = 420mm

The gutter-
29 x 4 = 116mm

420 + 116 = 536mm

594 - 536 = 58mmm

58 / 2 = 29mm

So for an a2 grid, we have 21 columns and 30 rows, a left and right margin of 23mm and a top and bottom margin of 29mm.

Lets see what this looks like.

This is much better as an A2 grid to work too. It is far more complex and should allow me to create far more interesting designs for A2 literature. Now I am going to use this grid to experiment with possible design solutions to illustrate the information about the Typography Workshop. 

Initial A2 literature design

I have been thinking about my a2 grid, and after looking at the design for the a3 grid, the modules are getting rather small. For the a2 grid, I am going to enlarge the grid. So that the baseline still works with the grid etc, I will have an enlargement of the current a4 and a3 grid by x2. This will also mean that my logo will have to have a varied size too, this of course is not a problem, it just means that I have to change my initial outline for my style sheets slightly.

So for the a2 grid calculations-

A2 size- 594 x 420

New column width and gutter width and row widths-

Gutter- 8mm. Column width- 28mm

To work out the width of columns, I am going to divide the width and depth of paper by the gutter and column width and then round the number down to a whole number with a decent gutter size.

For the column width-

8 + 28 = 36



420/36 = 11.67

So I am going to presume that 10 columns will create a nice inside and outside margin. To calculate the margin:

10 x 28 = 280
9 x 8 =  72

280 + 72 = 352

420 - 352 = 68

68/2 = 34

This gives quite a large left and right margin, however, structurally, it will relate to my a4 grid system, So I am going to keep it like this.

For the top and bottom margin, I am going to presume that the perfect number of rows is 14, because again this relates to my a4 grid system. So, to calculate the top and bottom margin-

14 x 28 = 392
13 x 8 = 104

392 + 104 = 496

594 - 496 = 98

98/2 = 49

So the top and bottom margin will be 49mm

Now I am going to construct this grid in indesign, and see if it works.

This does work and I have margins that are consistant in size to my A4 literature format, so now I am going to start experimenting with layout for A2 literature. Text is going to be smaller and on some I may choose to include more information. For content, I am going to advertise masterclasses by my favourite typographers and also I am going to advertise Typography Workshop dates (these are obviously made up and just an example of the type of information that the visual system that I am designing could display). 

Example of positioning of an image on A2 literature. This is an image of Jonathan Barnbrook. Obviously   because the image size is much larger, a really high quality image must be sourced. 

These posters are just not working. Firstly, for some reason I am using a different colour palette that consists of lighter colours to my final colour palette?  Anyway, regardless of that fact, the layouts are not strong. I am using 30 and 60 point type, and the type is getting lost in the composition. Also, there isnt enough variance in design from a4 literature to a2 literature. I may as well just enlarge the A4 literature to A2 size. I need to rethink my approach to this. I said at the start of this post that I wanted to enlarge the modules and gutter by a scale factor of 2 but I think that this was the wrong decision. I think that I need to keep the module size and the gutter consistent across the design of all of the typography workshop literature formats. This will create more variance in design and appearance with the differing sizes of literature. Therefore, I am going to rework my a2 document grid so that it accommodates for this change. Then I will experiment with the new, more complex a2 grid and come up with a new design solution for layout. 

A3 literature design

I have come up with a way to accurately translate my grid onto a3 and a2 and a5. For an enlargement of a4-a3, all that I need to do is turn the grid on its side and multiply it by two, thus creating a 14 by 20 grid structure, and re-calculate the margins so they take up the extra distance. This will create a more complicated grid structure with smaller modules, however the modules will be the same size and so will the gutter. So, my new calculations for the a3 paper setup are as follows:

A3 paper size- 297mm by 420mm

For the left and right margin

gutter width-

13 x 4 = 52mm

module width-

14 x 14 = 196mm

52 + 196 = 248

297-248 = 49

49/2 = 24.5

So my inside and outside margin for a3 literature is 24.5mm

For the top and bottom margin-

gutter width-

19 x 4 = 76

module width-

20 x 14 = 280

280 + 76 = 356

420 - 356 = 64

64/2 = 32

So. My top and bottom margin is 32mm. This seems a bit excessive. I am going to try the 32mm margin top and bottom, it may give a nice aesemetric layout when designing. However, I could easily add another row into the grid structure and reduce the margin, thus allowing a larger grid to work in. This may upset consistancy in design of a4 to a3 layout however. 

This is the grid structure for my A3 literature. I think that it is interesting in that the grid is much more complex, however I have been thinking. I am not actually sure that there is a place in my Typography Workshop design for A3 literature. I like the concept of A4 literature because it is cheap to produce and is a format that could be placed onto door windows and generally scattered across notice boards and throughout university. However, A3 is an awkward size. It is too large to put onto some of the notice boards as they have to accomodate other information too, but it is too small to make enough impact to be an effective stand-alone poster to advertise Typography Workshop information. Therefore, I am going to drop the A3 literature idea and instead create A2 literature. 

New a4 literature designs

I have taken the previous layouts that I have designed for A4 literature and I have edited them so that they fit into my newly designed grid. Now, there is a consistency in margins, column widths and gutters. The grid is constructed using 140 modules. This is a lot but allows for great flexibility in design solutions for layout.

This is the baseline grid for the type. As you can see, I am following my rules of leading here with the 30 point type size. I quite like the breaking of this information so that the 'secure you place for this opportunity now' text is slightly offset from the top title.

The type

The baseline grid-

I have opted for a 2mm baseline grid. This is a small baseline grid and a round number. Now, when I come to experimenting with line spacing of the font, I can use whole numbers and all type sizes can relate directly to the baseline grid.

The baseline grid relates directly to the modules of the grid system. It should start at the top margin. There are 7 baseline lines per module of grid. I did experiment with having 4mm baseline grid and 3mm, but the whole baseline grid did not correspond very well to the 14mm modules and 4mm gutter. 

Type on the baseline grid

experiments with line spacing for each font size:

8 point type face with 4mm leading. This is a nicely spaced 8 point font. I am working in multiples of 2mm in the line spacing, so I will also try the 8 point type with 6mm line spacing. 

6mm line spacing. This is too large but I am happy with the 4mm line spacing for this type weight. 

12 point type size with 8mm line spacing. The line spacing here does not look right or balanced, The line spacing is too much. I am going to try 6mm. 

6mm line spacing is a lot better. The spacing is slightly more than auto and gives the font a lighter feel. Also, it looks well balanced and aesthetically pleasing, it is easy to read and understand and does not look awkward. 

16 point font with 6mm leading. 

16 point font with 10 mm leading 

16 point font with 8mm leading 

16 point font with 8mm leading looks like the right distance for line spacing. 6mm is too condensed and also the same as my 12 point type face. 8mm and the line spacing is too great and the lines become disjointed and awkward to look at. It is not easy to read. 

thirty point font with 10mm leading 

thirty point font with 12mm leading 

30 point font with 14mm leading 

After looking at these experiments, 30 point font with 12mm leading looks the most aesthetically pleasing and balanced. Also, it is the leading size that is most consistant with my other type sizes. 

Sixty point font with 16mm leading 

sixty point font with 22mm leading 

sixty point font with 24mm leading

Sixty point font with 16mm leading definately isnt enough distance between each line. the descender and  aesender intersect. It was a difficult choice between 22mm leading and 24 mm leading because there is so little visual difference between the two, but I have decided on the slightly heavier leading of 24mm because this is double the value of the 30 point font leading so is the most consistant with my other type sizes. 

To conclude, there are 5 possible type sizes for my typography workshop design. They are:

8 point font with 4mm leading 

12 point font with 6mm leading

16 point font with 8mm leading 

30 point size with 12 mm leading 

60 point font with 24mm leading