What is grid?

What Does grid Mean

Grid is a term that can be used in different contexts . In its broadest sense, it can be defined as a two-dimensional structure that allows organizing certain elements or contents .

The grid as a design tool arose in ancient times. Painters, sculptors and architects used the so-called golden number as a basis to maintain proportions and harmony . In this way, appealing to perpendicular and parallel lines, they drew a grid that guided the later development of the work.
The golden number (also known as the golden ratio , golden mean and golden number , among other names) arose as a result of a deep observation of nature, of elements such as the human body itself, beehives, seashells, the leaves and the flowers, since all of them seem to obey a certain mathematical formula that hides the secret of their apparent harmony , of what we recognize as "the perfection of nature" and which seems indecipherable.

Today, grids are used in graphic design and web design to structure content. Beyond constituting a support for creation, they are generally not taken as a precise limit, that is, they can be transcended by the artist.
In the field of design, the use of a grid is very necessary to establish the foundations of a work before starting with the details . Since it is a very broad and versatile concept, the appearance of the grid can also be very varied: depending on the needs and characteristics of each case, it can be a large rectangle divided into "cells", or several squares of different sizes distributed throughout the workspace, and so on.
When creating a web page, for example, the grid used for the arrangement of the elements usually consists of a rectangle for the marquee, where the logo will be located, another for the main menu, and then a series of shaped cells varied to indicate the position of the articles on the cover, the advertising spaces, the widgets of social networks and the description of the site, among many other possible elements . Free blogging services, such as Blogger, often use this design tool to make work easier for their users.
A synonym for grid in this context can be mockup , when it comes to the basis of the arrangement of elements, and this was already used before the digital age, for the creation of magazines, newspapers and books. This structure must take into account several factors, among which the format of the sheet (whether physical or digital) and its orientation stand out , but also if there will be the option of scaling and restructuring the content in real time; Given that nowadays we can access the same document by very different means (a computer, a telephone, a tablet), it is necessary to devise a design capable of adapting to the resolution and interaction mode of each one.

Within the context of the photoengraving process, the network of points that is used, based on changes in the density of grouping these points, is called a grid to develop different shades of light and shadow.
For surveying , the grid is a plate that is divided into very small squares in order to establish the area of ​​a certain figure.
In some countries , finally, the scheme or diagram that details the subjects that are part of a career is called a grid. In this way, by observing a grid, we can know how the different subjects that must be taken to complete the race are structured. This facilitates the planning of the courses and the organization of the studies to be carried out.