Design Glossary
by Joelle Steele
Here is a short dictionary of terms relating to the design process and marketing for graphic designers, publishers, and website owners.
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 HTML coded websites
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. an older software program used to create HTML websites that conform to W3C standards
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 web design program, once the most widely used, but no longer in use.
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 page in a website or to another website.
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
Web page. 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.
