The grid system and visual hierarchy used by the letterpress before the rise of digital technologies are much more constrained. They rely on colour and the choice of typefaces to bring out certain aspects. Important information are set in bold type and primary colours are mostly used with a limited palate. The grid that was used tended to be just vertical, horizontal and centred.
The example below is an example of a letterpress poster from the 1920's. Its use of one colour creates unity while the use of the only non-serif font for the headline further emphasises the visual hierarchy. Its importance is again enhanced by the horizontal, thin double lines that frame it at the top and bottom.
http://andreagrover.com/category/history/
With the of digital technologies comes an evolution on visual hierarchy and grid systems. Images can be coloured as well as black and white, illustrated or photographed. Grids have also become more interesting as there are endless possibilities of creating a layout.
The following example is a combination of photography, digitally produced motifs, as well as shapely body copies. Unlike the first example they have omitted colour, sans serif type, a horizontal grid system and have utilised the interesting shapes to pull attention. This innovative layout perhaps would not have been impossible without digital aid, however it would have been extremely time consuming and difficult to create.
http://upscaletypography.com/?tag=layout-design
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