Mavery Collage Paper

Michael Avery Collage Paper

Collages
Michael Avery
Rasmussen College

Author Note
This paper is being submitted on July 8, 2012, for Alexandria Dolezal’s NM122 Digital Publishing course.

Collage
The use of grids when designing multimedia projects can be a good tool for one to use. However, as much as it can be a benefit, it can also cause problems. There are various pros and cons to using a grid and it’s up to the designer to create a grid that will work best for their project so that it is eye appealing and that it does not look like it was just thrown together.
The use of grids has many pros to it. The various pros vary from designer to designer. Grids allow the designer to be better organized due to the almost finished layout being established in the beginning and designers believe this allows them to be more creative because then they do not have to worry about the layout while they are building the project. Grids allow the project to be eye catching, but not look like one big mess that was just thrown together. The grids also allow the project to be structured and visually related and help guide the viewer’s eyes throughout the project. These are only a few of the pros to using grids (Rigo, 2011).
As with almost everything else in the world, there are also cons to using grids. One disadvantage believed by some designers is that the grid does not allow a designer to be creative. They believe that a designer cannot be creative when “locked” in by lines. A second disadvantage that is believed by some is that grids cause a project to be boring and they believe grids only work with a project that has a fixed design. A third con that is believed by some designers, is that a grid can only be designed to represent columns; thus, if a complex piece is to be used, it will “disturb” the grid and cause the project to appear to be cluttered.
The two picture collages that I created are completely different from each other; even though the exact same pictures were used for both collages. The first one I did is nothing but columns. Even though I did it just to make sure I understood how to create the grid, I am disappointed with it because it looks boring and not up to my standards.
The second collage looks so much better. The grid that I designed, is not just columns of square blocks, but is made up of various sizes of rectangles and squares. Even though the exact same pictures were used, they are more appealing to look at in the second collage. The different sizes actually guide your eye throughout the page causing the collage not to look cluttered or “thrown” together.
I learned a lot from this assignment. There may be some projects that grids may not work with, but with time and practice, I believe I will be able to create a grid without any problems. There are many pros and cons to using a grid; however, I believe the success or failure to using a grid really depends on the designer themselves. If the designer just uses the same grid over and over again, I believe they will lose part of their desire to create. At the same time, as with me, if the designer is just learning how to create a grid and use it, they may feel frustrated. However, the frustration is not with using the grid itself, it is with the fact that the skill has not been developed enough to create grids properly.

References
Rigo, L. (2011, February 2). Grid approach in web design: Pros and cons. Retrieved July 8, 2012, from Template Monster Blog: http://www.blog.templatemonster.com/2011/02/02/grid-web-design-pros-cons/