Increasingly principals that have long been the bread and butter of print design are being applied to Web design.
For some time now fonts other than Arial, Times New Roman and Verdana have been able to be used on the Web thanks to technologies such as sIFR and cufón (which we use for the primary navigation and Twitter feed at the top of this site), and now grids are increasingly being used to help structure Web pages.
For centuries grids have been the bread and butter of graphic designers and typographers throughout the world:
“The use of the grid as an ordering system is the expression of a certain mental attitude in as much as it shows that the designer conceives his work in terms that are constructive and oriented to the future… By arranging the surfaces and spaces in the form of a grid the designer is favourably placed to dispose his texts, photographs and diagrams in conformity with objective and functional criteria.”
— Josef Müller-Brockmann, Grid systems in graphic design
It may be because more print designers are becoming or influencing web designers, or simply that web designers have finally had enough of unstructured content and ad-hoc design elements that are increasingly present throughout today’s Web.
An increasing amount of resourses are becoming available for Web designers keen to indulge in the practice of using grid systems. A great place to start is at The Grid System, a resource in grid systems from downloadable grid templates to inspirational sites. Another is 960 Grid System which advocates the use of the popular 960 grid system (which we base most of our web designs on, see image above). 960 Gridder (pictured above) is a JavaScript website overlay tool that helps designers and developers check if a website falls within the grid and is great for checking for any inconsistencies in page layouts.
From my own experience, designing Web pages to a structured 960 grid certainly helps in organising and presenting information clearly and consistently. It also aids accessibility which is becoming increasingly important amid the frenzy of new Web developments that are appearing. HTML5 promises to standardise much of this new technology and together with good design practices, the World Wide Web can continue to grow in an orderly and visually pleasing manner, something that Müller-Brockmann would be proud of.
Following the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art’s recent Enjoy England Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) annual assessment, the gallery’s website designed and built by TheFrameworks was highly commended.
VisitEngland’s assessor praised the layout and navigation of the site, the homepage Twitter integration and the comprehensive information presented on current, future and past exhibitions. The assessor was so impressed that she now uses Estorick’s website as a case study for other attractions on how to design a successful website.
VAQAS was launched nationally in 2001. It is a consumer focused quality assessment service for all types of visitor attractions. It helps to identify strengths of an attraction and highlights development areas based on industry examples. A wide range of attractions of all sizes, both large and small, throughout England have benefited from participation in the service.
