Glossary of Design Terms

  1. Alignment: The arrangement of elements along a common axis or edge, such as left, right, center, or justified.

  2. Balance: Balance refers to the distribution of visual weight in a design. It's about creating a sense of equilibrium among the various design elements so that no one element overpowers or dominates the others.

    • Symmetrical: If the design is split in half, both sides match.

    • Asymmetrical: One side has the element and the other side is essentially blank directing the eye. 

    • Radial balance: The focal point is at the center and the props move out from there.

  3. Branding: The process of creating a unique and identifiable image or identity for a product, service, or company.

  4. Character: a single element. such as a letter, numeral, or mark of punctuation.

  5. Color scheme / Palette: A set of colors chosen to be used together in a design or composition.

  6. Composition: The arrangement of visual elements in a design to create a sense of balance, unity, and interest.

  7. Contrast: The difference in visual properties that makes an object distinguishable from other objects and the background.

  8. Emphasis: Using visual elements to draw attention to a specific part of a design.

  9. Focal point: The element in a design that immediately catches the viewer's attention.

  10. Font: a set of printed letters, numbers, and other symbols of the same style.

    • Font Family: An attribute of an element that indicates the font to be used when rendering the text value of the element.

    • Typeface: a particular design of type.

  11. Gradient (Ombre): A gradual transition between two or more colors.

  12. Grid: A framework of horizontal and vertical lines used to align and organize design elements.

  13. Hierarchy: The visual arrangement of elements in a design to create a sense of order and importance.

  14. Hue: The property that distinguishes one color from another.

  15. Kerning: space between individual characters.

  16. Layout: The arrangement of text, images, and other elements on a page or screen.

  17. Leading: The space between lines in a paragraph.

  18. Logo: a symbol or other design adopted by an organization to identify its products, uniform, vehicles, etc.

    • Logo Type: A single piece of type that prints a word or group of separate letters.

    • Logo Mark: an image or symbol used to represent a company

  19. Page: A page refers to one side of a sheet of paper. 

  20. Photography: Creating art through the use of a camera.

    • Flat Lay: top-down photo of the product with props strategically placed around it.

    • Product Photo: Simple shot of the product on a white or solid background. 

    • Lifestyle: A shot of the product being used or showing how it could be used.

  21. Proportion: The relationship between the sizes of various elements in a design.

  22. Repetition: The use of the same design element multiple times within a composition.

  23. Saturation: The intensity or purity of a color.

  24. Scale: The size of an object or element in relation to another object or element in a design.

  25. Spread: a spread is a pair of facing pages that are typically designed to work together to form a cohesive visual experience.

  26. Texture: The surface quality of a design element that can be seen or felt. 

  27. Tracking: Space between letters in a word.

  28. Typography: The art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed.

  29. Unity: The harmonious relationship between all of the elements in a design.

  30. White space: The empty or negative space around and between design elements that helps to create balance and improve legibility.

*We were able to clarify some of these terms with the help of chatGPT! 

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Consistency in Branding

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Design Talk Part 2