Grids Are Good

The document discusses the use of grids in design. It provides a brief history of grids from early ornamental designs to modern rational designs influenced by machines and standardization. The document then discusses how to build a grid for a specific design problem involving a 1024x768 screen size and big advertisement units. It demonstrates going through multiple attempts to define an appropriate grid, including rounding advertisement column widths, extrapolating unit sizes, and consolidating units into columns. The optimal solution presented uses a 14-unit grid with 62 pixel units to allow for flexible layout of content while accommodating advertisements.