A
Achromatic
Having no colour, IE. Black, white or grey.
Aesthetic
Giving or designed to give pleasure through beauty; of pleasing appearance.
Ai
Adobe Illustrator. A vector-based programme which is used to create and manipulate shapes and type. Great for the production of illustrations and logos.
Aliasing
An image becomes aliased when the computer screen, printer or graphics file has insufficient resolution to represent an image. Aliased images appear jagged.
Alignment
There are 4 main types of text alignment.
Ranged Left: a straight vertical line is formed to the left side by the lines of text, leaving the right side irregular
Ranged Right: a straight vertical line is formed to the right side by the lines of text, leaving the left side irregular
Centred: lines of text are arranged centrally leaving both left and right edges irregular
Justified: a straight vertical line is formed to the left and right sides of a block of text. This is achieved by varying the ‘character space’ between letters and words.
Animated GIF
An image is shown at timed intervals to create the illusion of movement.
Annual report
A periodical booklet describing a company’s year on year progression.
Anti-aliasing
Aliased (Jagged looking), images are smoothed out by blending their pixels.
Ascenders
The part of lower case letters that extends above the x-height of the typeface.
Aspect ratio
Aspect ratio refers to the width and the height of a rectangle. This is usually formatted as 16:9 (which means 16inches by 9 inches).
B
Balance
A condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions aesthetically.
Bevel
Bevelling an image gives it a raised appearance by adding highlights and shadows.
Baseline
In typography, an imaginary horizontal line upon which the main body of the letters sits. Rounded letters sit slightly below the baseline as do the tails of letters with ‘descenders’.
Bauhaus
An influential design school, founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany in 1919. It had a profound influence upon developments in art, graphic design, interior design, industrial design
and architecture.
Bit-mapped (font)
A type of memory organization or image file format used to store digital images. Tiny squares ‘pixels’, form the shape of letters and images. The information used to control the display of a computer screen can be described as pixilated or bitmapped.
Black (font)
A heavier font than bold in the same type family.
Bleed (print)
Elements of a design which touch the edge of the page need bleed. Bleed extends beyond the actual page to allow for any misregistering during the printing process. The document is printed on oversized paper which is then cropped by the printer, leaving a clean edge.
Body copy
The main part of the text within a document.
Bold
A heavyweight of any given typeface, often used for emphasis.
Brand identity
The brand identity is made up of everything that relates to the brand – logos, typefaces, colour, slogans, website, packaging and other marketing material.
Brochure
A small booklet or magazine containing information and imagery relating to a specific product or service.
Byline
A line in a newspaper naming the author of an article.
C
Calligraphy
Handwritten letters using specific tools, such as; brush, fountain or broad nib pens.
Cap height (typography)
The distance from the baseline to the top of the capital letters.
Clip art
Pre-drawn images which computer users can add to their documents, usually provided with word-processing programmes and drawing packages.
CMYK
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. The colours used for 4 colour process printing. Also known as process colour. By blending these 4 colours the whole colour spectrum can be represented, (see also Four colour process).
Column gutter
The space between columns of type.
Composite image
A group of images or photographs, combined to form one image.
Condensed font
A taller, narrower typeface than the standard roman font in a type family.
Contrast
Contrast is usually used to describe the difference between two colours (light vs. dark). Using contrast helps to create areas of visual interest throughout designs.
Copy
The text used within a document or publication.
Copy fitting
Manipulation of text to fit within a given space.
Collage
The use of mixed media to create an illustration or piece of art.
Corporate identity
The “persona” of an organisation, which is devised to accord with and facilitate the attainment of its business objectives.
Counter (typography)
The enclosed area inside a letter, EG. the triangle within an A.
Crop marks
Horizontal and vertical lines which identify the printable area and the areas to be ‘cropped’.
Cropping
Cutting off surplus parts of an image or document.
D
Descender (typography)
The part of a letter which projects below the baseline.
Design
The bringing together of elements in a creative, harmonious fashion, to convey an idea or message.
Digital
Information which can be manipulated and stored on a computer.
DPI
Dots Per Inch. The resolution at which something is printed. Standard printing quality is set at 300dpi. Standard computer images are set at 72dpi.
Drop shadow
The effect used to give the impression that images or text are 3 dimensional and casting a shadow.
E
Egyptian font
Fonts with heavy square serifs, eg Rockwell.
Embossing & Debossing
Embossing is a print finishes that either lift the design into the material (embossing) or, sink the design into the material (debossing).
Expanded font
A wider typeface than the standard roman font in a type family.
F
Flyer
A small, single or double-sided leaflet advertising an event or product. Usually distributed free.
Foiling
Foiling is a print process where a metallic or pigmented foil is printed onto a surface through heat. This usually adds an extra dimension to the design and helps to make products more eyecatching on a shelf.
Font
A set of characters of one particular face. EG. Bodoni Bold or Bodoni Light. In the past a font was considered to be only one point size, however, in the modern era, this distinction has become obsolete.
Four colour process
The four colours of ink, (CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW and BLACK), are used by printers to create the entire spectrum of colours. Each of the 4 colours is printed separately from four individual press plates to achieve the finished result.
G
GIF
A type of file used for the web. Ideal for files made up from solid colour. GIF’s can be animated to represent motion.
Gradient
Gradients are a gradual change in colour or shade.
Greeking text
Dummy text, usually Latin. Used to show the look of a page without having to type in the actual text.
Greyscale
Greyscale is a colour palette that only uses black, white and different shades of grey.
Grid
Horizontal and vertical rules used to design page layouts.
Gutter
The Gutter is the term used to describe both inside margins of facing pages.
H
Headline
Bolder, larger copy than the body copy. It draws the eye to give an immediate impression of the main content below.
Hex
Hex is the six-digit code used to represent a colour.
Hierarchy
Hierarchy is used to create organisation and directions throughout a design. This makes the text more understandable and easier to read.
I
Icon
Icons are images or illustrations used to represent objects or actions. An example of this would be the magnifying glass used to represent ‘search’ on websites.
Illustrator
1. A vector-based drawing/type manipulation programme. 2. A person who draws or produces pictures for posters, magazines, advertising, books etc.
INDD
In Design (In Design Document) – a page layout programme. The Adobe version of Quark Xpress.
Italic (typography)
Leaning or slanted typeface, a counterpoint to roman text. Words or phrases, used for emphasis or distinction are often italicised.
J
Joint
A stroke that connects the stem.
JPEG (JPG)
Joint Photographic Experts Group, (the people who created JPEG’s). A means of compressing digital photography. A typical Jpeg compression ratio of 10:1 can be achieved with minimal loss of image quality.
Justified
When text is aligned left or right or centre within a text frame with no rag either side.
K
Kerning
The manipulation of letter spacing
L
Landscape
A format which is wider than it is tall. The opposite of Portrait which is taller than it is wide.
Leading
The vertical spacing between lines of type, usually measured in points.
Leaflet
A sheet of printed paper, usually distributed free, containing information or advertising.
Letterpress
A print process that dates back over 1000 years. A press is used to leave a direct impression on a raised surface, in this case, letter which have been covered in ink.
Light (typography)
A font that is lighter than the roman version of a typeface. Opposite of Bold.
Line art
Black and white artwork with no grey areas.
Logo (Logotype)
An individual symbol or device used by a company to differentiate them from their competitors.
M
Margin
The margin refers to the blank space between the edge of the page and the content within it.
Master page
A template page used in layout programmes such as InDesign and Quark. Elements like text boxes, Page headers and page numbers, need only be input once using master pages. Documents can contain multiple types of master page.
Masthead
The masthead is the title design for the name of a publication, for example on the front cover of a magazine.
Mock-up
A mock-up is a realistic representation of a design to demonstrate how it would work in the real world.
Monochrome
Monochrome is a colour palette made up of various different shades and tones of a single colour.
Moodboard
A mood board is a way for designers to collect lots of visual references for a new design project.
N
Negative (or white) space
The parts of a page not occupied by graphics or text.
O
Opacity
The density of a colour. 0% opacity is transparent and 100% opacity is opaque.
Oblique (typography)
Leaning or slanted typeface, a counterpoint to roman text. Words or phrases, used for emphasis or distinction are often italicised.
P
Packaging
The process of design, evaluation, and production of packages.
Pantone matching system
PMS is a system for matching colours – used in specifying printing inks. Formed from a combination of primary inks – it contains more than 700 colours and each swatch has details of the individual colour breakdown so that printers can match them exactly.
Pixel
The smallest area of illumination that can be achieved on a monitor. All images on display monitors are composed of many pixels.
Point size
A unit of measurement for type sizes and spacing. One point = one-twelfth of a pica, or, in Europe is 0.015 inch (0.376 mm). There are about 70 points in an inch.
Promotions
Publicity campaigns for particular products or organisations.
PSD
Photoshop Document. Photoshop documents saved as PSDs can retain all of their separate layer information. If a Photoshop document is saved as a Jpeg or an eps. for example, the layers are combined (flattened), and the individual layers cannot be accessed.
Primary colours
The Primary colours for pigments are red, blue, and yellow. The primary additive colours for light are red, green, and blue; the primary subtractive colours (which give the primary additive colours when subtracted from white light) are magenta, cyan, and yellow.
Q
Quark Xpress
A page layout programme, similar to Adobe InDesign.
R
Raster
A Raster is a bitmap image made up of pixels
Resolution
The degree of detail visible in a photographic or screen image. The resolution of a printer is measured in dpi – EG 600dpi. Screen resolution is measured in dots by lines – eg 640 x 350
Rivers
Spaces between words which form irregular, winding lines within blocks of body copy.
Roman type
Plain or regular typeface – commonly used for body copy.
Rule
A line used by designers as a graphic device to separate or balance information.
S
Sans serif typeface
A typeface without serifs. eg Futura.
Saturation
Saturation refers to the intensity of colour.
Scale
Scale is the relative size of an object.
Script
A typeface which imitates neat, flowing handwriting.
Serif
A slight projection finishing off the stroke of a letter. Baskerville is an example of a serifed typeface.
Sub-heading
Like a heading but of secondary importance and emphasis
Spot colour
Colours not produced from the four colour process. Spot colours are used to print flat (or special) areas.
Strapline
A secondary phrase or sentence added to a brand, logotype or trademark to highlight a phrase with which the company wants to be associated. eg HSBC… The world’s local bank.
T
Typeface
The term typeface is frequently confused with font; The distinction between font and typeface is that a font is a specific member of a type family such as roman, bold, or italic. A Typeface has an overall look or style which can be a “family” or related set of fonts. EG. a typeface such as Futura may have roman, bold, and italic fonts which make up part of the Futura family. In the past, a font also meant a specific point size, but with the onset of the digital age, outline fonts became scalable so this distinction became obsolete.
Type family
A group of typefaces designed in the same style but with various weights and proportions. EG. Swiss Bold; Swiss Bold Condensed; Swiss Black etc.
U-V
Vector
Illustrations created in drawing programmes such as Macromedia Freehand and Adobe Illustrator. The illustrations create shapes defined by a series of points. Vector illustrations are, digitally speaking, quite simple and file sizes are usually very small compared to raster-based files.
W
White space
The areas of a design which contain no type or graphic imagery. Awareness of white space is essential to good design.
Widows
Widows are the lines of text that are separated from the main body of the paragraph. Usually, at the end of the paragraph, they overrun onto another page or column.
X
X-height
The height of the lower case x in a typeface.