Overview

Our grid runs tight to the edges: a 3% margin, six columns, one subject per frame. Labels sit in the corners on the same inset everywhere, display type goes as big as the format allows, and nothing floats.

Grid

One grid for every format. Swipe through to see how the logo, headlines and photographs sit on it.

Setup

Our margin is tight: 3% of the shortest side of the format, 6 mm on an A4 page. Inside it are six columns, with gutters half the size of the margin.

Formats

The margin follows each format's shortest side, so the grid scales with it: 6 mm on A4, 32 px on a square post or a 16:9 screen.

Logo

The logo sits on the bottom margin: a third of the width in layouts, up to margin to margin when it is the hero.

Headlines

Headlines start on the top margin and run from margin to margin. Set them as big as the layout allows, close to the edges.

Photography

Photographs run to the edge, across the whole format or half of it. Never crop or stretch them, and keep type on the paper, not on the photograph.

Do and don’t

The rules that keep every Gleam layout tight. They apply to every surface, from a story to a billboard.

Space
Do

Scale the headline and the image until the gap between them closes.

Don’t

Leave dead space in the middle, or float things with air on every side.

Alignment
Do

One axis per surface: the image sits on the same margin line as the type.

Don’t

Center an image against left-set text.

Hierarchy
Do

Two type sizes only: giant display or a small label in a corner.

Don’t

Add in-between sizes that compete with the headline.

Updated Nov 07, 2026