Customer Reviews

Grid Systems in Graphic Design/Raster Systeme Fur Die Visuele Gestaltung (German and English Edition)

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Purchasing my copy of grid Systems in Graphic Design, by Josef Muller-Brockmann, was the best money I've ever spent on a design text. I was a relatively seasoned designer with 6 years of pro-experience when I was fortunate enough to find a copy of this masterpiece. I was largely self-taught however, and while I knew from working in various layout programs about grids, I had no idea how powerfully they could be utilized. Within a weekend of reading and absorbing this book, my designs had improved substantially.

The grid theory and aesthetic principles set forth here are easy to understand and immediately put into use. The book lays bare the absolute essentials for successful corporate design, and the examples of the author's work from 50 years ago (the first IBM Corporate Identity) are so "current" you will be amazed at how little good, clean design principles have changed over the decades. Buy this book, wherever you find it... especially if Corporate Design is your thing.

Brockmann have introduced the systematic use of grids in design, his work is very concise and it should be read and took seriously by any designer. But reading just Brockmann is not enough today, there are other fundamental authors that contributed for the development of the grid system and the adaptation to the new printing methods, even the display in digital media. A good theory can't stop in time. I do recommend the Authors: Veruschka Götz, Kimberly Elam and Timothy Samara. They all are representative designers that are helping to bring Brockmann System to a reality closer to us.

As a pioneer and as a passionate advocate of grid systems, Josef Muller-Brockmann (JMB) was undoubtably a master of the grid. This combined with his teaching ability and his exceptionally eloquent and clear writing style has, in my view, given us the definitive work on grids. His may not be the last word but it is the first and arguably the best.

Where his "The Graphic Artist and His Design Problems" (1961) gave us a taste and an outline of grids, "Grid Systems" goes inside grids to examine typography, leading, pagination, formats and more, all in much detail and with an abundance of fine examples. This is an eminently practical book, giving the reader the theory, the method and also examples of grids complete with measurements.

I recommend this book to anyone involved in design. Although it is most applicable to graphic design (print and exhibition), it's application is wider than that, and the lessons will advance the designer's appreciation for the basics and the nuances of good design. Finally, this is an excellent example of writing on design by a systematic thinker, a great designer and an effective teacher. At a time when so much poor writing, ignorance and pretension abounds on the topic of design, this book serves as an exemplary standard for both content, method and style.

Grid Systems is a must have for all types of designers. This book teaches the fundamentals of building grids, learning paper types/sizes, the proper way to lay out type within your grids and tons of other "rules" that you should know before trying to break them. The work examples in the book may seem outdated, but since they deploy strict grid layouts, they are regarded as more "classic" rather than old.

For the novice, this book is an excellent introduction to the purpose and use of grid systems. For the seasoned pro, it offers interesting insights into the small details a grid system can emphasize, or harm, w/any design project.

you will not regret buying this book. a must have book for any designer of any discipline (web, print, media, etc). the downside is that there's a lot of reading to do. so hunker down and expect to fall asleep a few times during the readings, but it's definitely worth knowing how the system works from the master of the grid.

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 Elements of Typographic Style" by Robert Bringhurst is more wide-ranging, more up to date, and more important to have as a reference.

I was most anxious to get this book and for good reason. This book is truly a classic. Very basic and yet informative, this book really undergirds any graphic design project. This book may, however, be too basic for some, who might expect a new trend in graphic design. It is a fundamental book that really does lay the foundation for building graphic design grids.

In my opinion this is the best book about grids. It intoduces into history, gives some typographic base knowledge, detailed information about grids, layouts and composiotion. This book would be interesting for experienced graphic designers as well as for newbies. I highly recommend this book. Thanks.

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 as I look at great design work. The layout system is such a fundamental part of being a graphic designer. Make sure you're making every effort to improve all the necessary skills. If you're looking for an improvement in your layout skills, read this book. It will stand the test of time for ages to come.