Robin Williams' Principles (The Non Designer's Book, second edition (Berkley, CA, Peachpit Press 2004)

Closeness
Readers understand units of information to share a textual relationship when they appear in proximity. The New York Times example.

Alignment
This refers to placement of graphics and texts close to each other to convey meaning. Example, a caption for a news photograph should appear close to it or under the photograph to create meaningful relationship between the text and the photograph.

Repetition
Similar information should be treated using a consistent style. Consistency in style can be maintained through use of similar fonts, sub-heads and emphasis.

Contrast
This refers to using color contrasts between the text and background to make documents readable.

Example of academic paper document design

Learning Theory and Page Design

Chunking
Information delivered in small units are easy to understand. The smaller units are created by providing consistent spacing between various groups of information by chunking them under sub-heads and paragraphs.

Queuing
It refers to creating visual distinctions to indicate levels of importance. Queuing of information can be achieved through use of color, size, heading's placement and line spacing. Example on pg. 267 Figure 12.6.  

Filtering
It refers to use of visual patterns to distinguish various types of information. Filtering can be achieved through use of distinct font colors and tan screens.

 
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