What if Stop signs came in pink squares, yellow circles, or green triangles, depending on the changing whims of a town and a few of its residents? Imagine the ensuing traffic jams and accidents. Repeating design elements and consistent use of type and graphics styles within a document shows a reader where to go and helps them navigate safely.
Readers gain comfort from having certain elements repeat themselves at consistent intervals or in the same position. It is much easier to flip to the desired page of a magazine if the reader knows that the page number will be in the same location on every page. Specific columns or special sections of a newspaper are more readily recognized, even when they change location, if they look the same from issue to issue.
Readers expect to find page numbers in the same location on each page. When all the text in a given article — even when it spans several pages — has a consistent look, including column width, it enhances readability. Readers often expect to find sidebars, informational text, and other oft-repeated elements in the same place from page to page.
A grid, used consistently on all pages of a multi-page document, makes it easier for the designer to provide the consistent look that readers often expect. A carefully conceived grid system also allows the designer to introduce variations without forsaking readability or consistency. It also speeds layout because it takes the guesswork and "look back to see what we did before" out of where to place elements from one page to the next.
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