Design Principles Terminology
Terms associated with the principles of Graphic Design
Terms
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- Continuous tone art
- Photographs, paintings, and other images having a complete range or variation of tones from white to black
- Unity
- The overall sense that all elements are related
- Clip art
- High contrast drawings usually found in digital format on CDs or DVDs
- Screen tint
- Area of image printed with dots so ink coverage is less than 100% and simulates shading or a lighter color
- PMS
- Abbreviation for Pantone Matching System, a widely used method of specifying spot color by means of numbered color samples available in swatchbooks
- Optical center
- Point slightly above and to the left of the mathematical center
- Bleed
- Any image that extends to the edge of a sheet or page after trimming
- Align
- To arrange elements so they line up with other elements
- Sequence
- Arrangement of elements to promote eye movement in logical order
- Emphasis
- Arrangement of elements that attracts attention to the most important element
- Rule
- Line used for graphic effect
- Four-color process
- Technique of printing using the four process colors of ink to simulate full color
- High contrast
- Few or no tonal gradations between dark and light areas
- Balance
- Proper placement of elements by weight
- Color swatch
- Sample of an ink color
- Margin
- Space that frames the content of a page or sheet
- Art
- All pictorial matter: photographs, paintings, drawings, charts and graphs, etc.
- Rough
- Simple sketch showing the size and position of the various elements of the design; usually an actual size, somewhat more refined version of the thumbnail
- Proportion
- The size relationship of one part of the design to the other parts
- Logo
- A trademark or unique type of lettering spelling out the name of a company or product
- Design
- The plan and arrangement of graphic elements
- Line art
- Any solid image consisting of black lines on white background without gradation of tones
- Comprehensive (comp)
- Layout that looks almost like the final printed piece will look
- Element
- Each individual portion of the printed message: line, rule, text, illustration, etc.
- Gutter
- Space where two pages meet at the binding; term is also used by some software publishers to mean space between columns.
- Copy
- Everything that will be printed or reproduced:type, photographs, illustrations, etc.
- Thumbnail
- A small, quickly-drawn sketch that shows a possible way to combine various elements of a proposed printed piece
- Layout
- The preliminary plan or blueprint for any piece to be printed
- White space (negative space)
- Space not occupied by type, art, or other graphic elements