The last big grid

Back in January, Instagram changed the format of their profile pages from a 3-wide grid of squares to a 3-wide grid of 4 x 5 rectangles. This change probably reflects Instagram’s continued effort to become a generic TikTok clone for boomers. The 4 x 5 grid of rectangles is better than squares for displaying video previews.

For me, though, this undid a few years of work. I had been using Instagram as a sort of sketchbook or playground where I’d create one very large image and break it apart into a three by nine grid of squares and then post each square individually. In my feed you’d see a detail or close up of some image, but if you viewed my profile, you’d see pages and pages of unbroken images rolling into each other. When I was really on my game, one big grid would blend into the next big grid to create a sort of seamless experience. This is The Wrong Way to use Instagram. It doesn’t result in a lot of engagement, it’s not a great promotional tool. But that’s all fine. it’s a fun creative exercise.

My last big grid was a top-down view of a tiled breakfast table with coffee, toast, and eggs. As I worked on the image, it reminded me of a diner in central Guadalajara that had pictures on the menus. The tables are faux wood grain, and not tile. This is where I learned that eggs, sunny side up, are huevos estrellados. This became theme of this piece and when I posted each square to Instagram, I added a little note about eggs in Mexico.

I created the image entirely in Sketch, which is a vector-based tool, primarily used for designing user interfaces and other digital products. It’s not really an illustration tool. This is The Wrong Way to use Sketch. Each component of the image is made from geometry. A stack of circles becomes a plate. Add colors and gradients and it starts to take on dimension, like painting with math. The result is a sort of hyper-real, polished rendering of a table top. I tried to layout the image in such a way that it was almost, but not quite, a repeating pattern.

But no more; big grids are done. This app updated coincided with Meta’s decision to eliminate fact checkers and other trust and safety features. Together, these two events made for a good time to stop posting to Instagram. Since then I’ve deleted all of my old posts by the. They were broken by the layout change anyway, so I’m not losing anything. I’ve deleted the app from my phone and along the way deactivated my Threads account. Threads is Instagram’s sad Twitter clone and has the all of the quality and character of a glossy airline magazine stuffed deep inside your seat-back pocket.

I haven’t quite gone as far as to delete my account. Instagram is my only connection to a few real people in the real world and I’d hate to lose that. I’d also hate for some discount shoe store to scoop up my username. I’ll keep the account active for now.

My Instagram usage has dwindled. I check-in on my people on my computer, at my desk, in the morning, after I check my email. Instagram is no longer an annoying calorie-free dopamine hit in the checkout line of the supermarket.

I think I like it that way.