GRID

(back issue, top, current issue, bottom)

"While single-column grids work well for simple documents, multi-column grids provide flexible formats for publications that have a complex hierarchy or that integrate text and illustrations." (115)

Above are two different layouts for a section that appears regularly in BPM Magazine. Both grids are simple and divide space for images, textual content and a recurring column. The vertical line on both grids gives hierarchy to Rob Simas' Buzz Chart. The chart is its own entity on the left of the page and readers find comfort in seeing it there every issue.

In the back issue, the photos are made into a block at the top of the page while the text is divided into two columns underneath. This causes confusion for which photo goes with which part of the text. This was remedied by numbering sections of the text and their corresponding photo.

In the current issue, the designers avoided the complication altogether by placing the each section of text directly across from its photo.

The new grid is made up of three columns: text, images, text. It creates a vertical sandwich with images in the middle that separate two different bodies of text. It's a little on the boring side, but it divides the content clearly for the reader.