Topic:

The beauty of grid systems and
the challenge of multilingual book design

Brief description:

In graphic design, grid systems are mostly seen as a means for smooth production. Though, grids are in first place possibilities to find spacial “rhythms” for a surface. Just like a musician, graphic designers have to make up their minds, what kind of groove they want to use for a specific expression. And each groove is based on a different rhythm. In the end, it’s all about dividing up a space in resonating elements, and use these elements to define the size and position of the design elements (like images and type areas). As a first step, we’ll look at the most common grid systems to create different spacial rhythms in order to evoke different grooves.

This knowledge will be a great asset for (book) design with two or more languages, since designing with more than one language demands a rather complex structure of hierarchies. Beyond the grid systems, we’ll look – as a second step – into typographic differentiation in order give more compositional depth to the different grooves, we established with the grid systems.

Biography:

Ingo Offermanns studied painting at the Akademie der bildenden Künste München, Munich, from 1994 to 1998, and completed his Master of Fine Arts degree at the Werkplaats Typografie in Arnheim (the Netherlands) in 2001. He opened his eponymous design studio in 2001, focusing on editorial design. Before becoming professor at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg, in 2006, Ingo Offermanns lectured at a number of institutions, including the ArtEZ hogeschool voor de kunsten in Arnheim (the Netherlands) and at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh (USA). Since 2016, Ingo Offermanns is member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI).