Visual Design Terms

Front 1

Alignment

Back 1

establishing visual relationships among elements by placing their edges along the same imaginary horizontal or vertical line.

Front 2

Analogic visuals

Back 2

visuals which convey a concept by showing something else and implying a similiarity.

Front 3

Analogous colors

Back 3

any two colors that lie next to one another on the color wheel.

Front 4

Complementary colors

Back 4

any two colors that lie directly opposite one another on the color wheel.

Front 5

Decode

Back 5

to interpret visual or verbal messages

Front 6

Directional

Back 6

a visual device, such as an arrow, used to direct viewers' attention in a given direction or to a specific location

Front 7

Encode

Back 7

to create visual or verbal messages intended for others to decode

Front 8

Figure-ground contrast

Back 8

the visual principle stating that dark figures show up best on light backgrounds and light figures show up best on dark backgrounds

Front 9

Iconic

Back 9

any referent that resembles the thing it represents.

Front 10

IVLA

Back 10

the International Visual Literacy Association - an organization established for professionals involved in visual literacy

Front 11

Optical spacing

Back 11

spacing typographical elements (letters) so that they appear evenly separated to the eye, regardless of their true measured distance

Front 12

Proximity

Back 12

the visual principle in which viewers assume that items placed close together are related, and those placed farther apart are unrelated.

Front 13

Referent

Back 13

a link to an idea

Front 14

Rule of thirds

Back 14

a principle of photographic and graphic composition in which an area is divided into thirds both vertically and horizontally, and the centers of interest are located near the intersections of the lines.

Front 15

Sans-serif font

Back 15

a font type which does not have serifs (the extra pen strokes at the end of terminals)

Front 16

Serif font

Back 16

a font type which has extra pen strokes at the end of the terminals

Front 17

Storyboarding

Back 17

an audiovisual planning technique in which sketches of the proposed visuals and accompanying verbal messages are put on cards or into a computer program; the items are then arranged into the desired sequence.

Front 18

Visual literacy

Back 18

the ability to interpret and create visual messages