Elements that are lined up with each other share a visual connection that can enhance design and increase usability and legibility. Consistency, predictability are essential elements to any well designed information system.
Grids are commonly used in design (and I've heard the term bandied about a lot!) to help with alignment. A good grid design is a flexible one - it can have as many or few grids as desired, and there will be times when breaking out of the grid is appropriate. The goal when working with a grid for web design is to create a consistent layout that allows you to plug in text/graphics, without having to rethink the design approach on each page. (Lynch & Horton 2001)
A new term introduced here - registration, in reference to precise alignment, positioning of elements down to the last pixel.
Further reading:
* Why use a grid? Mark Boulton
* Grid systems for the Web Part 1, Part 2 Fixed, Part 3 Fluid, Mark Boulton
* Grids are good [PDF] excellent presentation by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton
* Smashing Magazine's Designing with grid-based approach lists references and resources
* Designing grid-based blog template, Michael Angeles
* Design By Grid articles, tutorials and resources
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