Why are the CRAP principles important in design?

• Robin Williams is the go to person for introductory graphic design information, mostly because of her easy to understand CRAP principles.  So why are they so important?  Well, the principles themselves aren't that important, I think anyone who is a good designer would naturally tend to do the things she suggests.  However, the way she presents them is easy to understand and by making a few minor changes to a flyer, business card or poster by following her rules, anyone can make a better ad or business card.  Contrast, repitition, alignment and proximity are things that anyone can understand and fix, and voila, anyone can become an amateur graphic designer.  Most of the examples in her book can be created in a word document, so I think part of the reason her principles are important is once again accesibility and usability, the same thing that's important in any rhetorical device.  Williams' advice is for the regular person and doesn't require special knowledge of InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator or Dreamweaver to follow it.  Considering repetition, alignment, proximity and especially contrast can quickly make a design look way better and lead the viewer's eye through the page, just like any good piece of art!  I feel like Robin Williams' design principles are a good starting point for design, but that's pretty much what they are:  some simple rules that can make any design a little bit better under most conditions.  Of course I think the most important thing is that you are completely happy with anything you design, and I think the CRAP principles are just like any other rules-good most of the time, but every one in a while it's ok for them to be broken.