Graphic Design Final
Sans Serif
A Typeface without serifs, e.g. Modern.
Saturated
A color that contains little gray, an intense color. As saturation increases, the amount of gray decreases.
Drop Shadow
A commonly used visual effect consisting of drawing that looks like the shadow of an object, giving the impression that the object is raised above the objects behind it.
Filter
A filter is applied to images or art works to easily create special effects or to achieve a look that would be too difficult to create manually.
Illustrator
A resolution independent, vector graphics and illustration application used to create logos, icons, drawings, typography and complex illustrations for any medium.
Typeface
A set of characters that share common characteristics such as stroke width and the presence or absence of serifs.
Widow
A short line, word, or part of a word left bereft at the end of a paragraph. Widows and orphans are often used interchangeably.
Point
A unit of measurement in typography. 12 points in a pica or 1/72 of an inch.
Pica
A unit of measurement used for type. A pica is equal to 12 points and 1/6th of an inch.
Tracking
Adjusting of the letter spacing throughout copy.
Kerning
Adjusting the spacing between specific letters/characters.
Alignment
Align images, text and graphics for structure and to achieve a more visually appealing page. It is the arrangement of elements in a fixed or predetermined position.
Family
All the type sizes and styles of one typeface.
Gradient
Allows the user to fill an object/ image with a smooth transition of colors.
Bleed
An area of text or graphics that extends beyond the edge of the page. Images that are supposed to run all the way to the paper edge has to be printed with bleed. Image must extend a bit outside of the page format, around 5mm or 1/8". Bleed is the portion of art at the edge of the page that extends beyond the trim size. If your art goes to the edge of the page, it is important that there is enough extra art to extend past the trim line. This is so that we can cut into the art so no white edge will be left on the page after trimming. Art that extends into the bleed will be cut off at the trim line & should never include type (unless you want them to be trimmed off at the page edge for some artistic reason).
Silhouette
An image where the background has been eliminated, leaving only a figure or object.
Baseline
An imaginary line upon which characters seem to stand.
Grids
An invisible structure used as a guide, to help arrange elements on the page.
Proximity
Arranging similar elements together on a page, closeness. The appropriate spacing of elements in the layout. Elements that have a relationship should be placed close to each other.
Bitmap Images
Bitmap images technically called raster images, are based on a grid of colors knows as pixels. Each pixel is assigned a special location and color value. In working with bitmap images, you edit groups of pixels. Bitmap graphics can represent subtle gradations of shade and color, so they are appropriate for continuous-tone images such as photographs. Bitmap images = raster images = pixel based.
Uppercase
Capital letters or caps of the alphabet. Abbreviated as Caps, UC or simply C.
Symmetrical
Centered and Balance. It offers a conservative, safe and peaceful atmosphere when designing.
Design
Communicating a clear message to the audience.
Contrast
Contrast is a mix of elements to stimulate attention. Contrast in size or color, of different elements on a page to make it visually interesting.
Acrobat
Create, edit, convert, digitally sign, encrypt, export and publish PDF documents and forms.
CMYK
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, the four used in full-color process printing.
Balance
Equal distribution of weight. When a design is balanced we tend to feel that it holds together. Symmetrical and asymmetrical balance.
FPO
For Position Only is to indicate that the image (as seen) has only been added to the design to indicate its position on the layout and thus is not indicative of the appearance of the final printed image.
GIF
GIF images display up to 256 colors. GIF images generally have very small file sizes and are the most widely used graphic format on the web. The low quality resulting from compression makes them unsuitable for professional printing.
Grayscale
Grayscale images contains black, white and 254 shades of gray.
Font Family
Group of typefaces with similar characteristics. For e.g. sans serif Arial, Arial Bold, Arial Bold Italic, Arial Italic.
Repetition
Having elements repeat to create visual consistency. For example, the same font and point size for the body text throughout the page.
X-height
Height of lowercase letterform, minus the ascenders and desenders, e.g. "x".
Greeking
In computing, a means of speeding up the display redraw rate of a computer monitor by representing text characters below a certain size as gray lines, boxes, or illegible dummy type.
Composition
In the visual arts - in particular painting, graphic design, photography and sculpture - composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art, as distinct from the subject of a work. It can also be thought of as the organization of the elements of art according to the principles of art.
Characters
Individual letters, punctuation, numerals and other elements that are used when setting type. A symbol in writing.
Flash Professional
Interactive animation, game and mobile app design.
JPEG
Joint Photographic Experts Group, a compression format used for images used on the Internet.
KISS
Keep it simple, stupid, this principle highlights that fact that simplicity is a desirable objective in producing effective designs.
Leading
Line spacing, which is calculated from base line to base line.
Body Copy
Main text part of an advertisement or any printed matter (as distinct from the logo, headline, subheadings, and graphics) that provides the 'meat' of the communication. Usually a professional copywriter writes the body copy.
Bezier Curve
Mathematical equations commonly used to describe the shapes of characters in electronic typography.
Bezier Curve
Mathematically defined curve used in two-dimensional graphic applications. The curve is defined by four points: the initial position and the terminating position (which are called "anchors") and two separate middle points (which are called "handles").
Asymmetrical
Off-balance. It offers a fun and energetic mood when designing.
Dingbats
Once known as "printer's flowers,"these are the small decorative marks, bullets, or symbols that usually make up a specialty face.
Crop
One basic way to modify images is to crop them — remove some part of the image. Cropping changes the appearance of images in order to better fit the layout, make a statement, or improve the overall appearance of the design.
Balance
One of the principles of design, balance places elements on the page so that text and graphic elements are evenly distributed. In layouts with an even balance the graphics don't overpower the text and the page doesn't seem to tilt to one side or the other.
InDesign
Page design and layout for print and digital publishing. It can be used to create digital magazines and publications, print media, books and e-books.
Focal Point
Part of the design that is emphasized, so the viewer sees it first.
Ascender
Part of the lowercase letter that extends above the X-height, e.g. b, d or h.
Descender
Part of the lowercase letter that falls below the baseline, e.g. p, y, or g.
Pixel
Picture Element, it is a square dot that represents the smallest unit displayed on a computer screen. Also, a single point in an electronic image.
Photoshop
Pixel-based, image editing and compositioning application which is the de facto industry standard in raster graphics editing.
Portable Document Format
Spot Color
Printing inks of special colors, for example from the PMS system. Used to achieve an exact color that four color inks cannot provide because spot color is mixed according to a recipe.
Bevel
Raised effect created by applying highlight and shadow colors to the inside and outside edges of the border of an image or text area in order to create the illusion that the image or text area has three dimensions.
RGB
Red, Green and Blue the colors on computer monitors.
Letter or Word Spacing
Refers to the space between letters and words respectively.
Font Style
Refers to the specific characteristics of the font, e.g. italic, bold, bold italic and roman.
Lowercase
Small letters of the alphabet, abbreviated as lc.
Emphasis
Something that is singled out or made more prominent has emphasis. An element of a design that dominates or becomes the center of interest has emphasis.
TIFF
Tagged Image File Format is a format for electronically storing and transmitting bitmapped, grayscale, and color images.
Appropriation
Taking a style of one thing and applying it to another.
CMYK
The CMYK color model (process color, four color) is a subtractive color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black).
Live Area
The area that all important art, type, should appear. No necessary art, type or graphics should appear outside this area. If your supplied art contains type or image outside the live area there is the possibility that it will be cut off during trimming.
Layout
The arrangement of elements such as type and visuals on a page or screen.
White Space
The background area without text, images or graphics. Use of adequate white space in a layout ensures visual breathing space for the viewer. It can help define proximity and organize elements.
Baseline Shift
The baseline is an invisible line onto which all type characters sit. Moving characters up or down in relation to the baseline and using it effectively can make a huge difference to the professional look of your type.
Brightness
The brightness (light/dark) of an image, the intensity of a light source or color luminance.
Font
The complete set of characters for one typeface at one particular type size, excluding attributes such as bold or italic.
Trim
The edge of the page. This is the finished size of the job.
Unity
The elements in a design that look as though they belong together. It gives a sense of oneness with consistency and repetition.
Bowl
The enclosed oval or round curve of letters like D, g, b and o.
Orphan
The first or last line of a paragraph that has become separated from the rest of its paragraph and is positioned at the bottom or top of a page or column, alone.
Rhythm
The flow or movement established by repeating or varying the visual elements.
Cap Height
The height of the uppercase letters within a font.
Contour/Silhouette
The image of a person, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single color, usually black, its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the whole is typically presented on a light background, usually white, or none at all.
Alias
The jagged edges on curves and diagonal lines in a bitmap image are known as aliasing. Aliasing can be minimized with a smoothing process called anti-aliasing which adds additional pixels to make the edges appear less jagged.
Weight
The measurement of a stroke's width.
Resolution
The number of dots in an image's screen display or printed output.
Branding
The process by which an identity is given a visual expression.
Font, Type or Point Size
The size of type, measured in points between the bottom of the descender and the top of the ascender.
Serif
The small finishing strokes or hairline strokes that project from the main stroke of a letter, e.g. Times New Roman.
Negative Space
The space between shapes and masses, used mostly in referring to fine art, sculpture or music.
Body Type
The specific typeface that is used in the main text.
Typography
The study and process of typefaces; how to select, size, arrange and use them in general.
Identity
The sum of the qualities that are synonymous, with the level of service with an organization.
Porportion
The visual size and weight of a each graphic element on the page.
Compression
There are two types of image file compression algorithms: lossless and lossy. Lossless compression algorithms reduce file size while preserving a perfect copy of the original uncompressed image. Lossy compression algorithms on the other hand allow for variable compression that trades image quality for file size.
Vector Graphics
They are made of lines and curves defined by mathematical objects called vectors.
Object Graphics
They are more accurately appropriate for today's software. These graphics retain their crispness whether they are moved, resized, or have their color changed. Vector graphics are appropriate for illustrations, type, and graphics such as logos that may be scaled to different sizes. Object graphics are based on bezier curves. Vector graphics = lines and curves = crisp edges even when resized (Object graphics).
Shift Key
Used to constrain (scale) an element or a layer in proportion.
Graphic Design
Using text and images to artfully communicate a visual message to the end user.
Graphic Design
Utilizes ideas, concepts, text and images and presents them in a visually engaging form through print, electronic or other media.
Columns
Vertical containers that hold type or images.
Asymmetrical Balance
When the left and right sides of the design are unequal. It is created with a mismatched number of different elements.
Canvas
Working area in Adobe Photoshop, which can be extended or reduced to fit more image content into the document.
Margins
the white area above, below, left & right of the live area. Art can continue outside the live area into the margins, but this should never be a crucial part of the page as it comes close to the trim line & could be cut off.
