GLOSSARY OF DESIGN TERMS

by Joelle Steele

Adjacent: a color scheme that uses three colors found next to each other on a color wheel

Apple: a computer made by MacIntosh

Balance: whether a design is symmetrical or asymmetrical

Banner: a graphic image that appears on top of a web page

Bitmap: a file format in which photos and images are saved

Bleed: when a printed ad extends to the trim edges of the page

Bluelines: a proof, printed in blue ink, showing you what the finished product will look like, for approval prior to printing

Bond: a strong and permanent grade of paper

Bookmark: a place on a page to which you can point with a hyperlink and go directly to a place on the page

Brochure: a pamphlet or booklet, usually bound, sometimes folded

Bulk mail: mail that consists of over 200 pieces that is sorted by zip code and mailed at a reduced postage rate

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): a system of style sheets groups in a hierarchy according to their importance

Character set: complete set of letters, figures, and symbols in a font

Circulation: the quantity and geographical character of the reader audience of a publication

Clip art: images and graphics that are available in electronic format or in books for use in advertising, books, websites, etc.

CMYK: color mode used for commercial printing

Coated paper: paper that has been coated on one or both sides giving it a slick, shiny surface

Complementary: a color scheme using colors that are directly opposite each other on a color wheel; the highest contrast combination of colors

Compression: reducing the size of a computer file for space or to transmit via the Internet

Contrast: the emphasis of one design element or characteristic over another, often making one more prominent than the other

Copy: the text of an ad or an article

Copyright: legal documentation designating ownership of printed or recorded rights to an original work

Creep: an adjustment made to the placement of text on a page so that when compiled into a book or catalog, the text is always centered properly on the page

Cropping: eliminating unwanted portions of a photo

Cross-platform: exchanging files between a PC and a Mac platform

CSS: see "Cascading style sheets"

Database: computerized file of names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.

Demographics: breakdown of a readership based upon one or many designations such as occupation, income, age, etc.

Direct mail: mailings directed to individuals in a targeted market

DPI: dots per inch, determines resolution of images based on number of pixels in a photo or image, with 72 dpi being low resolution for Internet use, and 300 dpi and up high resolution for print work

Dreamweaver: a software program used to create Web sites

Drop shadow: a shadow that shows behind a piece of text or an image

Duotone: two halftone plates made from the same original but to different tone ranges so that when printed together a greater tone range is produced than is possible in one color

EPS: Encapsulated PostScript file in which images are saved

Expression Web: a software program used to create Web sites

Fixed space: space between words or characters not variable for justification purposes in a text

Flushleft/right: aligning the edges of a text to either the left or right hand side of a page, or both

Font: a set of characters of the same design which may include variations in italic or boldface

Format: the style of a printed publication consisting of the margin sizes, printing requirements, size, typefaces, etc.

FrontPage: a software program, now outdated but still in use, for creating Web sites

Galley proof: a proof in which type is proofed in a column format, usually on a long narrow sheet of paper

Gang: several pieces of art printed together on the same press run

GIF: Graphics Interchange Format, highly compressed file format used to save images, usually for the Internet

Grayscale: a color mode with 256 shades ranging from white to black

Hard copy/proof: a piece of paper with typefaces and text ready to be approved for final printing

Hardware: the computer itself, consisting of the central processing unit (CPU), monitor, keyboard, modem, etc., exclusive of software

Home page: the first page that appears when a website is opened

House correction: corrections to proofs which are made by someone other than the author before proofs are offered for approval

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language, programming language used to create web pages

Hyperlink: a word or group of words that links to another place in a website or to another Web site

Illustration: an image, usually drawn or painted by hand or by computer, used to enhance a written document such as a book, advertisement, brochure, Web page, etc.

Illustrator: a computer program used to create illustrations, logos, and other images

Image: any photo or graphic presentation, or the portion of a page that contains the text and/or the photos or graphics

Image area: the printing and ink-carrying areas of a litho printing plate or of any printed piece that will have an image in it

Inkjet: a printing process created by shooting ink in small streams onto paper

Internet: a global network of computers that provides communication services to individuals and others; the place where websites are posted

Italic: the slanted or sloped version of a font

Java: a programming language used to programs (not to be confused with JavaScript)

JavaScript: a scripting language used to create small, often interactive, programs on the Internet/Web

JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group, a compressed file format used to save photos or images for use on the Internet

Justification: see "Flushleft/right"

Laser printing: an image is created by modulating a laser on and off according to digital information relayed by a computer, and then transferring the image to paper by an electrostatic printing system

Layout: the organization of text and pictures on a board with instructions about sizing for reproduction or printing

Leading: the amount of space between lines of printed text

Letterset: offset letterpress printing, also called dry offset

Line art: artwork entirely in black on white with no intermediary tones and not requiring a halftone for reproduction

Line copy: see "Line art"

Line drawing: see "Line art"

Litho: see "Lithographic printing"

Lithographic printing: the image and non-image surfaces are the same plate and the paper makes contact with the whole plate surface; the printing area is treated to accept ink and the non-printing surface is treated to attract water or some other solution that rejects ink

Logo: a graphic or pictorial image associated with a company

Logotype: several letters or a word on one body of type such as company emblems; see also "Logo"

Mac: short for the MacIntosh computer

Mail merge: a means of doing personalized letters on a computer by accessing a database through word processing software

Market: a group of individuals or companies with a specific buying characteristic

Market share: the percentage of the market which a company may have as clients

Media: the specific manner in which advertising is published or aired, such as printed media or broadcast media

Meta tag: an HTML code that allows search engines to find a website

Monochromatic: a color scheme that uses a single color with varied intensities or shades; the most subtle of all color combinations

Movement: see "rhythm"

PC: Personal Computer, an IBM-format computer

PDF: Portable Document Format file used to provide a document in a form that anyone can read who has Adobe Acrobat Reader or a similar software; a file format now required by many commercial printers

Photoshop: a software program used to edit and otherwise manage images, particularly photos

Placement: the part of the publication in which your advertisement will be, such as top right hand page, in the first 15 pages, etc.

Platform: the underlying structure of a computer, such as a PC or Mac platform

PR: see "Public relations"

Proof: copy of printed matter submitted for approval prior to printing

Public relations: the activities of, and manner in which, an individual or members of a company conduct themselves in their industry and in the community which conveys their image

Readership: the rough estimate of possible readers of a publication

Reproduction: the entire printing process from the completion of typesetting until lithographic plates reach the press

Resolution: refers to the number of pixels in an image, with more pixels giving more clarity and the ability to better enlarge or edit an image

Retouching: treatment of a photographic image to modify it or remove imperfections prior to reproduction

RGB: color mode used to view photos or images onscreen/online and on Web sites

Rhythm: adding patterns, colors, or textures that cause the eye to move through a design in order to experience it

Rough: an unfinished layout or design

Sans serif: a typeface without serifs

Scale: the relationship of design elements to each other in terms of their sizes

Proportion: the relationship of one design element to another in terms of their sizes

Serif: the small terminating strokes on individual letters or characters

Software: the programs that enable the computer's hardware to perform certain functions such as word processing, or graphics, or database management

Space available: a term used by publishers designating that they will place an ad wherever there is room in the publication

Spot color: a line or graphic portion which is printed in color to stand out from the rest of the text

Spread: a double-page spread when an illustration or advertisement takes up the center pages of a section

Style sheet: a set of rules that can be systematically applied to the text of a document, such as boldfacing, italics, underlining, double-spacing, etc.

Target: to direct efforts towards reaching a specific group, as in targeting your market

Text: see "Copy"

Texture: the tactile surface of a design, whether it is real to the touch or perceivable only to the eyes

TIF: abbreviation for Tagged Image File Format, a file format in which a graphic image is saved, usually for printing and also for archiving images

Tone: the gradation from light to dark in black or any color, contrasted with line work that has no intermediate tones

Trap: a manual or software-driven device used to block out parts of a page of printing that are going to be printed in a color

Triadic: a color scheme using three colors spread equally throughout a design

Typeface: the size and style of a set of characters in a font such as Arial, Times Roman, Dutch, Garamond, Onyx, Bookman, Courier, etc.

Typeset: the arrangement of text in its chosen font, presented in a manner ready for reproduction

Typo: short for typographical error, or any error made in typesetting

URL: an Internet or website address

Web: the World Wide Web or the Internet

Webpage: one of the pages that comprises a website

Website: a collection of pages posted/published to the Internet

Word processing: software that allows you to type letters and reports and merge them with your database records for a direct mailing

XHTML: the most current version of the HTML programming language as of 2009.