If your base gutter is 12, the next step might be 18 or 24. You can also employ units with padding as you mentioned. To keep a well organized grid, you can set the type in some kind of container that adheres to the base grid with the type inset by a unit or two or three.
Updated for January 12, 2017 (Toddlers) patch. Pose Player. This is a mod that will add the option to play poses and animations in game. It adds an interaction to your sims called Pose By Name and Pose By Pack. Just click on your sim like you would to do anything else.
poser (plural posers) (Britain) A particularly difficult question or puzzle. Someone who, or something which, poses; a person who sets their body in a fixed position, such as for photography or painting. (pejorative, slang) A poseur; someone who affects some behaviour, style, attitude or other condition, often to impress or influence others.