Create a Mondrian style layout for an ad

What you learned: Create a grid of frames for content and use the Gap tool to adjust the spacing between

What is a Mondrian layout?

Mondrian layout typically uses horizontal and vertical black bars to divide the design into rectangular shapes. The shapes can be filled with color, images, text, or a combination of those elements.

Create a grid of frames

To start, with a document open, create a series of frames that will become the grid.

• With the Rectangle Frame tool selected, press and drag across your page. Without releasing the mouse button, press the up or down arrow keys to add or remove rows and press the right or left arrow keys to add or remove columns. When you have the correct number of frames, release the mouse button.
• With the Selection tool, remove the frames you won’t need by selecting them and pressing Delete or Backspace.

What is the Gap tool?

The Gap tool provides a quick way to adjust the size of a gap between two or more objects. It also lets you resize several objects that have commonly aligned edges simultaneously, while keeping the gaps between them fixed.

Adjust the frames with the Gap tool

With the frames you need in place, you can adjust them with the Gap tool.

• Select the Gap tool in the toolbar. Move the pointer over a horizontal or vertical gap and drag to move the gap and resize all objects aligned along the gap.
• To move the gap between the two nearest objects, press the Shift key and drag the gap between.

Tip: You can Command-drag (macOS) or Ctrl-drag (Windows) a gap to resize the gap instead of moving it.

Add your content

With the frames in place, you can now place images, add color, and type text to finish your Mondrian layout.