Grids & Hierarchy Kelsey Beyer
All of the following compositions were based on this grid.
Leading, paragraph alignment, and placement vary, but you will see the grid’s structure in the arrangements.
Enjoy.
Design #1
Plus Type Style Variations
I have always thought type variations to be a simple yet very effective way to create hierarchy in text, from posters to term papers. Here, I gave the title a black style to make it heavier and therefore more prominent, and I gave the subheadings an oblique style. This ensures they don’t stand out more than the title, but they have some contrast against the rest of the body.
Plus Any Combination of Above
It’s easy to overdo things when given too much power. So, to avoid doing that, I kept a black and grey color scheme and just a few size and style variations. I combined larger text with a black style for the title, and in the body, I kept the subheadings black while making the body charcoal for just a slight contrast.
Original
Plus One Additional Size and One Color
In this composition, I added more large text of the same size. Here, I enlarged the subheadings of the piece, but I made the body of it a medium grey color. As a result, the black on the left of the page (the title and description) stand out as more prominent than the body. This shows that a weaker color of the same size text falls lower in the hierarchy, and that larger text of the same color falls higher.
I like this original piece because I think it has a lot of balance and hierarchy even without extra elements outside of 8 point text. The title stands alone, away from the center spine, making it more eye catching than the description or the body of the piece. Each subheading within the body is on its own line, which creates hierarchy within the body.
Plus One Additional Size
The hierarchy is the original composition held well on its own due primarily to spacing, and I didn’t want to disturb the simplicity with varying text sizes. For that reason, I selected only the title of the page to be larger.
Typophilia An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone. Typophobia The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Common Typographic Diseases Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
Helvetica and Times Roman. Typochondria A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters. Typothermia The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Typophilia An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone. Typophobia The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of
Common Typographic Diseases Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman. Typochondria A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters. Typothermia The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Typophilia An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.
Typophobia
Common Typographic Diseases Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.
Typochondria A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters.
Typothermia The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Typophilia An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone. Typophobia The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Common Typographic Diseases Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
Helvetica and Times Roman. Typochondria A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters. Typothermia The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Typophilia An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone. Typophobia The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of
Common Typographic Diseases Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman. Typochondria A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters. Typothermia The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Design #2
Plus Type Style Variations
This piece demonstrate the prominence of black style over book style. The title, styled in black oblique, stands out more than the description, which is book oblique. The body is kept in regular book, which is this piece, falls lowest in the hierarchy.
Plus Any Combination of Above
Here, I did a lot of experimentation with hierarchy. I gave my title the most obvious of contrast, making it larger, black style, and red. Then, I kept the description the same size but made it medium oblique, a tad thicker than book style. Finally, I kept the subheadings red but left them the same size. Though the subheadings are red, they still fall below the description in the visual hierarchy due to the description’s slightly thicker style and positioning on the page.
Original
Plus One Additional Size and One Color
In this piece, I wanted to experiment with true “color” rather than grey. I also wanted to do something different than in the last composition, so I chose to make the title and subheadings all the same size but give the title a red color. This showed me that text of a more dominant color or the same size will be higher in the hierarchy.
This piece, like the first, has a great sense of hierarchy - probably even greater than the first composition. The title stands truly alone, with nothing above or below it, and it is the highest and most left item on the page. The description comes next, directly to the right of the title, and the body is lowest in the hierarchy. Again, the subheadings in the body stand out because they are above the denser body, but this time, by two paragraph lines instead of one.
Plus One Additional Size
Again, because the hierarchy was well established in this original composition, I didn’t want to clutter it with too much large text, so I enlarged only the title.
Common Typographic Diseases
Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
Typophilia
Typophobia
Typochondria
Typothermia
An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.
The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.
A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters.
The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Common Typographic Diseases
Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
Typophilia
Typophobia
Typochondria
Typothermia
An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.
The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.
A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters.
The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Common Typographic Diseases
Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
Typophilia
Typophobia
Typochondria
Typothermia
An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.
The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.
A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters.
The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Common Typographic Diseases
Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
Typophilia
Typophobia
Typochondria
Typothermia
An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.
The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.
A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters.
The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Common Typographic Diseases
Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
Typophilia
Typophobia
Typochondria
Typothermia
An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.
The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.
A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters.
The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Design #3
Plus Type Style Variations
For this design, I used the same strategy as the very first design with varied text styles. I changed the title to black style and the subheadings to oblique style. This gives them contrast against the text around them, which raises them on the hierarchy.
Plus Any Combination of Above
Here, I wanted to stress the idea of contrast. I made the title larger and black style text, which provides obvious contrast from the rest of the page. However, I made the body book oblique, keep the subheadings in regular book style, but enlarging them slightly. This demonstrates that text doesn’t have to be bold or italic to be noticed first; it just has to be different, hence the contrast.
Original
Plus One Additional Size and One Color
In this design, I explored more relationship between size and color. Instead of opting for making the important items a strong color, I again changed the body of the text to a weaker grey color while leaving the subheadings black. The only text I enlarged in this piece was the title.
Finally, the last piece’s hierarchy is created by using spacing and positioning, as well. However, I wanted to do something a little different with this composition. Instead of using horizontal sight lines, I wanted to create more verticals. I ended up with a large white space, but white space is becoming more popular, and when used for a true purpose, can be a great thing.
Plus One Additional Size
Unlike the first two pieces, I decided to enlarge more than just the title. Here, I decided that there was enough white space to enlarge the subheadings without making the piece feel too crowded or overwhelming.
Typophilia An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.
Typophobia The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.
Typochondria A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters. Common Typographic Diseases Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
Typothermia The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Typophilia An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.
Typophobia The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.
Typochondria A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder),
Common Typographic Diseases
the need to constantly adjust
Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
Typothermia
and readjust the spaces between letters.
The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Typophilia An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.
Typophobia The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.
Typochondria A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters.
Common Typographic Diseases Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
Typothermia The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Typophilia An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.
Typophobia The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.
Typochondria A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between letters. Common Typographic Diseases Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
Typothermia The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.
Typophilia An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters, often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophiliacs usually die penniless and alone.
Typophobia The irrational dislike of letterforms, often marked by a preference for icons, dingbats, and—in fatal cases—bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman.
Typochondria A persistent anxiety that one has selected the wrong typeface. This condition is often paired with okd (optical kerning disorder), the need to constantly adjust and readjust the spaces between
Common Typographic Diseases Various forms of dysfunction appear among populations exposed to typography for long periods of time. Listed here are a number of frequently observed afflictions.
letters.
Typothermia The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface—or even to five or six, as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive “hot” new fonts, often without a proper license.