A Grid State
of Mind

If you have not heard of the 'grid system', it is a set of guidelines that govern how elements are laid out on a page. It's history has primarily in the print industry but it also has its use in web design. I know there are some well respected web designers who shun the use of a grid system but I believe it can be used to an extent.

When some designers think of the grid system, they think a set of restricting guidelines that hold back their creativity. Yes it can be restrictive if you follow the guidelines to the 't' but my approach here is to use it as a way to organize a web page that can sometimes be hard to figure out where to put information. I believe the 'grid system' can be a benefit to the user in the case of the web. It helps with flow and organization of data making it easy to see and access. I am not saying that we should us the 'grid system' for every project we do but for some it can be very helpful.

On a final note, Jason Santa Maria, who I highly respect makes a good point in his post What's Golden. We cannot always use standards that are used in the print world because web pages are an entirely different beast. Another great point he makes is that just because you use a certain guideline doesn't mean that your design will be good. In the world of the web it is all about usability, I have seen some well respected companies have horrible web sites and I am sure they paid big bucks for "good" design but they forgot about the user. We, as web designers, need to always keep the end user in mind when we are designing a web site and the 'grid system' can sometimes help us with that.