Visible Narratives: Understanding Visual Organization
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/visible_narratives_understanding_visual_organization

Wroblewski, Luke
Boxes and Arrows
2003

Abstract:

Visual communication can be thought of as two intertwined parts: personality, or look and feel, and visual organization. The personality of a presentation is what provides the emotional impact —your instinctual response to what you see. Creating an appropriate personality requires the use of colors, type treatments, images, shapes, patterns, and more, to “say” the right thing to your audience. This article, however, focuses on the other side of the visual communication coin: visual organization.