Layout

Alignment is an important fundamental of UI design.

Graphic and UI designers utilise a grid to achieve pleasing designs with well connected content and consisent vertical and horizontal rhythm or spacing.

The 0.25rem soft grid

The Wedgetail design system is built on the principles of a 4pt soft grid.

By using a spacer variable equal to 0.25rem (equals 4px when basefont size is 16px) and setting all paddings, margins, column-gaps, widths and other size attributes to multiples of this spacer; alignment to invisible grid is mainatined and vertical and horizontal rhythm is achieved.

We use 0.25rem as the spacer (rather than 4pt/px) since our basefont size changes to 18px at viewport widths >1440px. So using rem units for sizing/spacing will mean the sizing/spacing will scale up with the text.