One column
Everything in a single column, read from top to bottom. Gives one reading order with nothing to choose between, at every width.
Good for: Articles, forms, plain services, pages read on phones.
Weak for: Ranges people compare side by side; wide screens look empty.
The same at every width: only the line length and the margins change. Keep lines under about 75 characters on wide screens.
The look, in Stylogeny
- Classical text block: A single centred or justified block descended from book typography.
- Sequential narrative: Read as a sequence or story: panels, pages, scrolling, frames.
Parts that show it
- Centred hero
- Image hero
- Type-only hero
- Page title
- Explainer video
- Questions and answers
- Article
- Agenda
- Final call to action
- Newsletter
- Search results
- Was this helpful?
- About the author
- Comments
- Episodes
- Programme
- Important notice
- Task list
- Step by step
- Portfolio
- Event page
- Search results page
How it is found
In a wireframe: A section, outside the header and footer, with no split, no grid of two or more columns and no swipe row. A page type when most of its sections are like that.
On a real page: At 1280 px, less than a sixth of the text sits beside something else, and no split, card grid or sidebar was found.