Interaction Design · Project 1 of 3 · Weeks 1–5
Typography Project 3: The Grid
Nine grid systems, one typeface designer, one type specimen booklet
FORMAT
Individual — each student works with a different typeface designer
WEEKS
9–13
METHODS
Typeface designer research · Content writing · Grid system application · Adobe InDesign · Nine-poster series · Booklet design and assembly · Facing pages layout · Critique
TAGS
Aesthetic Psychology, Design Education, Design Thinking
Why this project
The project underwent a significant change when I shifted away from using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the primary content source. While the Human Rights content was meaningful and linked typography to broader social issues ,it distracted from the core typographic learning focus. Students ended up making content decisions instead of focusing on type design. In Fall 2024, I replaced the content with the typeface designer and their work. The project became clearer, and focused on the form of the typefaces, resulting in student work with a clear understanding of that specific typeface. This project provides students with the opportunity to study a single designer, their historical context, and their typeface.
The nine-grid-system structure is challenging. Each grid creates a distinct spatial logic: the axial grid centers around an axis, the modular grid divides the page into equal units, and the hierarchical grid prioritizes visual importance over regular geometry. Creating nine posters with identical typefaces and content but different grid systems reveals how the grid can influences meaning. The same text appears and communicates differently based on the organizing spatial logic.
The specimen booklet arranges nine posters in a sequence that functions both as separate pieces and as a cohesive publication. This presents an editorial design challenge layered over a typographic poster issue: how can nine unique compositions come together as a unified book?
The Brief
PROJECT PROMPT
Research a typeface designer and one of their typefaces. Write the content yourself — biographical information, typeface classification, year of creation, information about the typeface, and examples of the letterforms. This content becomes the text for all nine posters.
Design nine 11"×17" typographic posters — one for each grid system listed below — using only your chosen typeface. The typeface used in the design must match the poster's theme. Then design a half-size (9"×6") type specimen booklet, assembling all nine posters.
The nine grid systems:
From Typographic Systems (Kimberly Elam): Axial · Radial · Dilatational · Transitional · Bilateral
From Making and Breaking the Grid (Timothy Samara): Hierarchical · Column · Manuscript · Modular
Choose a typeface with at minimum 4 weights, numerals, caps, and lowercase. The larger the family, the better. No monospaced or web fonts. This is a print project.
DELIVERABLE
Typeface designer research and written content — submitted before design begins
Nine 11"×17" typographic posters — one per grid system, InDesign files
Type specimen booklet — 9"×6" (half-size), facing pages, assembled and bound
Booklet cover — may use one of the existing grid systems or design a new one
All files: InDesign (.indd), exported PDFs of individual posters and booklet
Self-assessment — see separate assignment sheet
What I've learned from running this
Transitioning from focusing on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights content to exploring typeface design was one of my best decisions in this course. Although the Human Rights content was significant—and I still believe design carries a social responsibility—it split students' attention between the content and the type. When we shifted to studying the content as expressed through the typeface—considering the designer, the historical background, and the formal features of the letterforms—students' typographic understanding grew richer.
Students selecting typeface designers with intricate histories—such as Baskerville, Bodoni, Zapf, Dwiggins, Zuzana Licko, and Matthew Carter—create work that reflects that deep knowledge. Those who recognize that Bodoni crafted his faces to align with the Enlightenment's focus on rationality and geometric accuracy will make distinct formal choices compared to students who see Bodoni merely as an elegant serif style. Here, research is integral to the design process itself, not just an addition.
The nine-grid system consistently elicits students' best typographic work of the semester. The constraint of using the same typeface across nine different spatial logics clarifies this: since typeface choice is fixed, all other decisions gain greater importance. Spacing, scale, hierarchy, and negative space become the main design tools. Students who previously depended on typeface selection as their primary decision realize here that typographic composition is more complex and engaging than they had initially thought.
The booklet reveals the sequence's clarity. Students who create nine compelling posters may find that the overall sequence fails — with unresolved visual rhythm across spreads or abrupt transitions between grid systems. Fixing this sequence presents a distinct design challenge from refining individual posters. It marks the first truly editorial typographic problem students face in the course.