Benefits of Grid Layouts and When Not to Use Them
This chapter title might spark controversy. Generally, grids are an established feature of web design and have been around since the early table-based layouts we once used to structure downright everything. However, grids are not always the answer. In the summary of the last chapter, we quoted an old saying: if the only tool you know is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail. This saying is true in design, too.
When confronted with a design task, we might jump to grids immediately because our muscle memory tells us to do so. We know grids. We have a set of ideal grid layouts that we can apply to virtually any design problem. However, perhaps there would be better, more fitting solutions – but we might not see them.
In this chapter, we want to open our tunnel vision toward grids and see how they can benefit and hinder us. We want to think about alternatives and use our creativity to understand that even though...