Graphic design isn’t just a profession, it’s also a language.
And, if you’re not up to scratch with the design lingo, then a conversation with a designer can be bewildering.
Don’t fret! we’ve put together this list of 16 design terms to help you make sense of the jargon and be talking the (designer) talk in no time.
This dictionary of sorts is written for designers & non-designers alike, this list will help you make sense of the graphic design terminology you might not be able to put your finger on.
So, let's get started!
Vector images a made up of points, lines & curves.
Can be made as big or as small as needed without losing quality.
Unlike rasters,vectors won't get blurry when scaled.
The number of dots per inch on a piece of printed material.
The more dots, the higher the print quality
The adjustment of space between two individual characters in a word.
Typography is the visual component of the written word.
All visually displayed text, whether on paper, screen or billboard involves typography.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text used by the design industry.
It’s used as placeholder text and has a more-or-less average distribution of letters, making it look like readable English, as opposed to using ‘Add content here, add content here’ within designs when the copy isn’t quite read
Comprises of colors that can be utilized for any illustration or design work that represents your brand.
The chosen colors should be designed to work harmoniously with each other.
A logo mark generally does not contain the name of the company and instead more abstractly represents that company using a symbol or mark.
Aspect ratio describes the ratio between the width and height of an image or screen.
It's just two numbers separated by a colon.
For example, the aspect ratio for an iMac is 16:9, it means 16 inches wide by 9 inches high.
The art of writing letters with a very specific tool
(e.g: broad nib pen, brush pen, etc.)
RGB stands for Red Green Blue, and is the color mode which should be used when designing for digital apps.
The three colours can be combined to create any colour—it’s not magic, it’s design.
Its the practice of designing something to look like a physical replica of that thing, while not behaving in the same way or necessarily having the same function.
Its a rulebook that explains how a brand presents itself to the world through its logo, font, color,photos and more.
It ensures that your brand looks and feels the same, even when you have different people working on customer service, marketing, design and sales.
Contrary to the name, white space doesn't just apply to the color white.
It is the space between the layouts, lines of paragraphs, between paragraphs, between different Ul elements and so on.
Think of white space as giving a design visual breathing room, like some sort of design meditation.
Stock photos are licensed images that designers are able to use so they don’t have to organise an entire photoshoot to get the images they need for a project.
Its an effect when a background goes to the edge of a piece of printed material.
This could include any photos, patterns, or colors.
By extending the background (and any other elements that bleed) beyond the edges of a printed piece.
The extra is then trimmed off.
