OUGD404 - Romek Marber's Grid System

OUGD404

Romek Marber's Grid System

1   Divide the page in two, vertically

2   Draw the ‘right’ diagonal, across the page

3   Draw the ‘left’ diagonal across the page

4   Draw a line from the top right corner so that it intersects the ‘left’ diagonal at a right angle

5   At that intersection, draw a horizontal line across the page

6   Draw a line from where the line from step 1 meets the top of the page to where the line from step 4 meets the left edge

7   From the intersection of that line with the ‘left’ diagonal from step 3, draw a horizontal across the page

8   From the intersection of the lines from steps 3, 4 and 5, draw a vertical to the top of the page

9   Now draw a diagonal from the top left of the page to where the line from step 5 meets the right hand side of the page

10            Now draw a vertical from the line from step 5 to the top of the page so that it passes through the intersection of the lines from steps 3 and 7

11            Now for a final horizontal across the full page, passing through the intersections of the lines from steps 6 and 9

12            Then draw a final vertical from the intersection of this line with the left diagonal from step 3. Then add your titles and publisher logo!

Today, Marber’s design is synonymous with Penguin books. Many can recognize a Penguin book from the layout alone, simply because they’re so well recognized as ‘classic Penguin’ designs.

The design has stood the test of time due to Marber’s careful consideration of its application and requirements, the fundamentals of any good design.

Contemporary designers still continue to admire and emulate Marber’s design, applying it to a range of modern day practices.

Penguin was a synonym for ‘significant’ and ‘worthwhile’ and the books’ covers, which projected a consistent, authoritative identity, were an essential aspect of their impact and of the pleasure of collecting them.

Marber’s grid allows for different placements of title and author’s name depending on the length of the title and the needs of the design as a whole.

With the typographic structure in place, Marber could concentrate on producing images that reflected the atmosphere of the books, which he read from cover to cover. He was a graphic image-maker of great versatility, able to sum up the stories with motifs and ciphers that contrived to be both playful and threatening.