The purpose of modern multimodal research is increasingly becoming the external design of the text, as it has a direct impact on the perception and interpretation of the presented verbal information. Symbolic and graphic means of visual imagery belong to the graphic component of the metalanguage and have a serious potential to influence the recipient. The aim of the present study is to identify and linguistically describe the peculiarities of the use of symbolic and graphic means of text design in German-language grammars of the 18th century. The material of the study was four grammatical works: Kern der Deutschen Sprachkunst by J. Gottsched, Auszug aus der deutschen Sprachlehre für Schulen by J. Adelung, Rußische Grammatik by M. Lomonosov and Russische Sprachlehre zum Besten der deutschen Jugend eingerichtet by J. Rodde. In the course of the comparative study, various techniques contributing to text compression were identified and described: thanks to the active use of diagrams, authors manage to illustrate examples, explain or comment on rules, while tables help to summarise and generalise various data on aspects of language. Special graphic signs and symbols, such as curly brackets or footnotes marked with an asterisk, help to structure the material. The arrangement of information on the page, the use of footers and letters greatly simplify orientation and the search for this or that information in the book. A characteristic feature of German scientific editions of the 18th century is the use of various fonts, which makes the text clear and precise.