A4 Swiss Grid System for InDesign

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Animated cycle of ten A4 sample layouts from the Swiss grid system, each pairing the empty 36 field modular grid with a finished layout in light or dark.

Features

— A4 (210 × 297 mm)
— 36 field modular grid
— Baseline grid
— Comprehensive style sheets
— Light and dark styles
— Proportional leading
— 10 sample layouts

Two A4 sample layouts side by side – a light page headed Swiss Grid System with a small specification block, and a dark page with Swiss Grid set large above three columns of text and image fields.
A bilingual pair of A4 layouts – a light German-language page headed Schweizer Rastersystem, and a dark page setting A4 Swiss Grid System in English and German with matching text columns.

An A4 Swiss grid system and template for Adobe InDesign – a 36 field modular grid, baseline grid, proportional leading and style sheets in light and dark versions, with ten sample layouts. Suited to flyers, handouts, covers, single-page adverts and portfolio pages.

Two A4 layouts – a dark page with Swiss Grid and 210 × 297 mm set vertically beside three image fields, and a light Modular Swiss Grid page on the ISO 216 format with four image fields.
Two single-word A4 layouts – a light page headed Zürich CH with a keyword list and one image field, and a dark page headed Asymmetry with a standfirst and one large image field.
Two A4 layouts – a light Zürich Typography page with running text beside a tall image field, and a dark Swiss Grid System page with a vertical standfirst and four image fields.
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Questions

What can I use an A4 Swiss grid for?

The A4 Swiss grid is designed for single-page work at document scale, including flyers, handouts, covers, adverts and portfolio or case-study pages. The ten sample layouts range from sparse to dense, all using the same 36-field grid, so you can replace the type and images while keeping the underlying structure.

How does the A4 Swiss grid differ from the poster grid systems?

The main difference is scale. The A4 grid is designed for work read at relatively close range. The A3 poster grid divides the page into fields without gutters, while the 6 Sheet grid uses type sized to be read from across a street. All three use Swiss grid principles – type and images placed in a defined grid, not just eyeballed.

What do I need to use it?

You’ll need Adobe InDesign. The download is a native InDesign document, with everything fully editable, including the grid, paragraph and character styles, light and dark versions, and all ten sample layouts.