Interview With Paul Felton

The next interview for my dissertation was with Paul Felton. He is a designer at Purpose in London and the author of The Ten Commandments Of Typography + Type Heresy: Breaking The Ten Commandments Of Typography:

Name
Paul Felton

Date Of Birth
10/07/84

Location
London

Occupation
Designer

Can you provide me with some of your professional/educational background details?
Staffordshire University 2002-­2005
Graphics BA, 1st Class honors

Had a typography book published September 2006

Placements July 2005-Feb 2006: Fluid Design (Birmingham) Palmer Hargreaves
Wallis Tomlinson (Leamington Spa) Part time lecturer (Staffs Uni)

Feb 06-Feb 08: Holman Group (Birmingham)

Feb 08-Present: Purpose (London)

Do you remember the first time you encountered grids?
I think it was probably at college when I was doing a final exam that consisted of producing some layouts etc and my tutor very briefly introduced them to us

Were you taught grids during your design education or were they something you sought out yourself?
Not a great deal, we touched on them at college and then a bit more at University but for me it was mainly something I have picked up through books and through working with other designers. Things like Baseline grids were never taught at all at uni and very few people I know have a good understanding of them.

How did they make you feel/what did you think of them?
At first a little intimidating to be honest!

There are lots of people who like/dislike grids, where do you stand now and why?
I'm not really sure why they can be disliked to be honest, I can understand that they are not always relevant for every piece of design but I don't think they are anything to dislike! I use them in most design work I do, but I am a predominantly a print designer and the work I do entails me taking information and presenting it to the viewer in a logical, legible way so grids are an essential tool to help me do that.

Do you think that the grid is an elitist design tool?
Not necessarily, but I think with grids and also with things like having a good indepth knowledge of typography, it does have a bit of 'geeky' persona.

From a graphic design point of view do you feel that grids aid or stifle communication and why?
Definitely aid it, as I mentioned before the main purpose of a designer is to communicate messages in an engaging way, I'm not saying that always requires a grid, but when dealing with type it has to be treated in a way that makes it easy to digest, grids aid this process. There is a feeling from some that they can stifle designs, this is naive, some of the best my experimental designs I have seen have been based around a grid.

Do you think that those who have sought to move away from grids have produced effective design?
Yes of course, I went to a lecture by Made Thought and they said they never use grids and there work is fantastic. However in my very early work I didn't always use a grid but found when I revisited the designs, they actually fitted in to a grid if I put one over the top it anyway, as I think most of Made Thoughts probably does. As designers, even if some say they do, we don't do 'random' there has to be some sort of order to our designs or they just won't work.

Do you think grid systems have changed?
I'm not sure they have really, I think the way people use them and experiment with them has and obvious changes in technology and trends affect they way they are implemented but I'm not sure how they can physically change that much.

Grids are said to help organize, what are your views on this?
True, as I said before they help organise information into a legible format. Imagine picking up a newspaper that didn't use a grid, it would be a total mess and people wouldn't be able to absorb the information

Do you think it stems from education, experience, a need to put order on or tame the world?
Its just what us as designers are taught to do, communicate information and messages, and when we see things that aren't doing that properly we strive to put it right.

How do you think grids/lines have affected the design world as a whole such as in art or architecture?
I think art is a completely different ball game to be honest but things like architecture rely on grids, you don't see many buildings where rooms are just randomly placed all over the place, look at the front of most buildings, the windows and doors are all generally aligned to a grid etc. Manhattan in New York is essentially one big grid and that supposedly one of the best cities in the world so they must help!

What attributes should a good layout have and why?
That varies from piece the piece, there isn't a one size fits all approach but things like consideration for hierarchy, legibility, sensitive application of type, good choice of typefaces, interesting imagery, features that draw the viewers attention and make the information appear exciting and intriguing (even if it isn't!)

How do you think grids may be used in the future, what about in 10 or 50 years time?
I think probably very much the same within the realms of print, however I think the mediums we use more increasingly may affect them, a shift from print to more digital work will need different types of grid systems developing, I have seen websites that use similar grids to print layouts that work very well but with things like iphones it will become totally different, not sure a 7 column grid really works on a 2 inch screen!

When we look back on the history of graphic design, art, architecture etc. we as a society can see movements, shifts in styles across all disciplines. As a designer where do you see layout heading?
As I said before the main shift in style I think we, as a generation, will begin to see is a big shift from print to digital. However a statement I hear banded around alot that 'print is dead' is utter nonsense, print will never be dead, even as generations become more and more savvy with the digital realms there are still areas where digital cannot compete, reading a 500 page book on a screen is simply no comparison to having it in print even with these new digital books available. But when it comes to the world of design and branding it will be a much more integrated approach. Take Creative Review for example, a design magazine that has recently refreshed its grid and typefaces etc and they are presented in a really nice layout, I'm a complete sucker for print and nice feeling and looking things but even I don't buy CR now as I can get everything I want to see on their blog, updated a few times a day, I can see others thoughts and opinions and links to other similar things of interest, print cannot (yet) achieve this, plus its free! But if we look at the web at the minute can we say there are any websites out there that anyone will look back at in 50 years time with the same cherish that we do at a Muller Brockmann Poster or Otl Aichers Olympic icons or Typographica Magazine? Not really, but maybe this is where the most notable next shift in style may come and I think layout will play a big part in this.

Do you think there are any systems that could rival the grid?
Not that I can think of!