Graphic Design School: The Principles And Practice Of Graphic Design

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CONTEXTUALIZATION

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The process of placing something within the interrelated systems of meaning that makes up the world.

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PRIMARY RESEARCH

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Gathering material that does not pre-exist, such as photographing, drawing, making prototypes, interviewing people.

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SECONDARY RESEARCH

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Gathering material that already exists, such as design work, color samples, written texts, newspaper/magazine articles, archive images (e.g. historical samples of advertising).

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LATERAL THINKING

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Research where the emphasis is on indirect, creative forms of inquiry & thinking.

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LINEAR REASONING

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A form of thinking that implies strategic thought process, one in which step-by-step logic is employed.

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ABSTRACTION

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An aesthetic concept meaning something that is drawn from the real, but has been “distilled” to its barest minimum for, color, or tone, often removed from its original context.

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DOCUMENTATION

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The recording in written, visual, or aural form of what is of interest.

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NON-REPRESENTATION

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The opposite of ...

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REPRESENTATION

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Something that looks like, resembles, or stands in for something else. In drawing, this is also known as “figurative” since it deliberately attempts to mimic the thing drawn.

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BRAINSTORMING

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A visual aid to thinking laterally and exploring a problem, usually by stating the problem in the center of a page and radiating spokes from the center for components of the problem. Each component can then be considered separately with its own spokes, so that each point, thought, or comment is recorded.

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THUMBNAIL

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Small, rough visual representation of the bigger picture or final outcome of a design.

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DIDACTIC

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A pragmatic and unambiguous method of giving clear information.

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METAPHOR

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Word or image that sets up associations, for example, a “piece of cake” means “easy.”

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POETIC

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A style that is less clear, but more artistic, more open to interpretation.

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RHETORIC

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A style of arguing, persuading, or engaging in dialog. For a designer, it is a way of engaging the targeted audience.

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SEMIOTICS

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A system that links objects, words, and images to meanings through signs and signifiers.

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SYMBOLISM

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A way of representing an object or word through an image, sound, or another word, for example, a crossed knife and fork on a road sign means a café is ahead

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AUDIENCE

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In its broadest sense, the consumers, voyeurs, and occasionally participants of design work.

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CUSTOMER PROFILE/PROFILING

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The process of creating a series of parameters or set of information that defines the desires, trends, or interests or a demographic so that designs can be pitched or marketed to them.

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MARKET RESEARCH

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The process of collecting and collating data from questionnaires, interviews, and comments from the public regarding a concern, a problem, or a possible solution.

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PAGE PLAN/FLAT PLAN

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A document with a series of numbered thumbnails set out in an ordered grid that represents each page in a book.

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STORYBOARD

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A document similar to a flat plan, but with a sequence of thumbnails that specifically lays out the narrative for a comic strip or film.

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ELEMENT

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One small part of a composition, such as a point or line, an image, a letter, or a word.

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LINE

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A continuous form of connection between two points (“____”).

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NEGATIVE SPACE

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The white or colored area around an element, e.g. a margin of a page.

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POINT

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A dot on a page such a period (.).

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POSITIVE SPACE

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A form, image, or word printed or formed on the page

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COMPOSITION

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The arrangement of elements or parts of a design (text, images) on the page.

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GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY

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A theory that suggests that the eye experiences a visual confusion between figure and ground (positive/negative spaces) creating two different images. e.g., Rubin vase - faces or vase???

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GROUND

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The page, surface, or area in which the design will be placed-negative space. Opposite of ground is figure or positive space.

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LAW OF CLOSURE

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The mind creates a solid object of the page from suggestions of contours and shapes. Visually closing or completing incomplete or spaced out objects into complete objects in the mind.

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ASYMMETRY

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A composition where elements are juxtaposed & do not mirror the other forms on the pg.

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SYMMETRY

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A composition where elements are balanced or mirrored on a page.

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BASELINE GRID

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Locks text onto consistent horizontal points. Based on size of type and leading value of the main text used (body text) and ensures that all text starts and ends at the same horizontal point.

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COLUMN

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Vertical block of text.

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GRID

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Series of horizontal & vertical lines on a page, used as a visual guide for lining up words &images.

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GUTTER

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Gap between 2 text blocks or spreads on separate pages either side of the book fold or binding

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HIERARCHY

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The different “weight” or importance given to type or image to emphasize different aspects.

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LAYOUT

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Placement of words and images on a grid or document to organize information.

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RECTO

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The right-hand page in a book.

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VERSO

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The left-hand page in a book.

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PACE AND CONTRAST

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Vital qualities for maintaining a reader’s interest in a design: they provide variety.

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CONCERTINA FOLDS

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Folds in alternate directions.

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FRENCH FOLDS

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Sheets of paper are folded in half, so that they are double thickness. The two folds are at right angles to each other, and then bound on the edge.

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GATEFOLD

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A way of folding paper so that the outer quarters of a page are folded to meet in the center. The result works like symmetrical doors that open onto an inner page.

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PAPER GRAIN

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The direction of wood fibers that make up a piece of paper.

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PERFECT BIND

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Method similar to paperback binding, where loose sheets are encased in a heavier paper cover, then glued to the book spine. Edges are trimmed to be flush with each other.

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ROLLOVER FOLDS

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Folding a pg so that successive folds turn in on themselves & the pg is folded into a roll.

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SADDLE STITCHING

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Binding method where sheets of paper are folded in the center stitched together along the fold, then glued into the cover spine.

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BOOK JACKET

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Packaging that advertises both product and publisher.

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IDENTITY

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A unified, identifiable look for a product or organization.

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PATCH

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The space on a bookshelf occupied by spines of books from the same series.

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FONT

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One size, weight, and width of a typeface: Garamond Roman 12pt is a font.

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LINGUISTIC

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Of, or relating to, language.

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SEMANTICS

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The study of meaning, and applies to both images and language.

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SYNTAX (or grammar)

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The study of the rules for the formation of grammatically correct sentences. If the syntax is wrong, then language becomes nonsense or meaningless.

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TYPEFACE

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Set of visual attributes (design/style) of a particular group of letters: Garamond is a typeface.

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BASELINE

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The line on which the lowercase letters sit, and below which the descenders fall.

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EARMARK

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Identifying or distinguishing marks or characteristics of a typeface.

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POINT SIZE/PICA

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The relative size of a font. There are 72 points in an inch.

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STRESS/AXIS

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Angle of the curved stroke weight chg in a typeface. Seen clearly in letters such as “o.”

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TYPE ANATOMY

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The language used to describe the various parts of letterforms.

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X-HEIGHT

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The height of a lowercase “x” in any typeface.

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SANS SERIF

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Without serif. Typefaces such as Univers, Helvetica, Aksidenz Grotesque, and Futura,

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SERIF

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Structural details of the ends of some strokes in old-style capital and lowercase letters.

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ALIGNMENT

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The setting of text relative to a column or page.

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CENTERED

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Text that is aligned neither to the left nor to the right; symmetrical, with an even gap at the end of each line.

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HYPHENATION

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The point at which a word is broken at the end of a line in continuous text, and a hyphen is inserted.

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JUSTIFICATION

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Text that is aligned on both the left and right margins of a column (lines are equal in length).

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KERNING

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Adjustments to the spaces between two letters (used extensively for capitals).

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LEADING

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the horizontal space between lines of type. Related to the historical use of strips of lead in letterpress.

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LETTERSPACING (TRACKING)

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The space between letters, which can be adjusted.

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OPTICAL ADJUSTMENT

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Making adjustments to letterspacing by eye, not mechanically.

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RANGED LEFT/RANGED RIGHT

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Text that is aligned to a column, either left or right.

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JUSTIFIED

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Lines or paragraphs of type aligned to both margins simultaneously, creating different spacing in between words.

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MEASURE

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The length of a line of text on a page, based in inches, centimeters, points, or picas.

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RANGED LEFT

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Paragraphs or lines of text aligned to the left-hand side margin.

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RANGED RIGHT

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Paragraphs or lines of text aligned to the right-hand side margin.

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HIERARCHY

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In this context, the name for differing levels of text in a document. A page title, for example, is at the top of the hierarchy, whereas paragraphs of text are below.

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CONTRAST

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The difference between elements, which allows for comparison and emphasis. Contrast is closely related to hierarchy, since it allows different levels of information to be identified.

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ORNAMENTS

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Typed characters that embellish the page. Also known as “flowers.”

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PANEL

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Device used to highlight information. Also known as a “sidebar.”

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TYPOGRAPHIC RULES

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Printed lines that direct the reader’s eye.

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ONOMATOPOEIA

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In typography, the use of type to suggest the sounds of a spoken language, such as adding a large “o” to the word “open.” Marinetti and the Futurists were effective in employing onomatopoeia, in the design of books such as Zang Tumb Tumb (see page 40).

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ADDITIVE COLOR

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System used on monitors and televisions, based on RGB (red, green, blue). When combined, these form white light.

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ANALOGOUS COLOR

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Colors, such as blue and green, that lie adjacent to each other on the color wheel.

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CMYK

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Cyan, magenta, yellow, key (black): the four colors that make up the full-color printing process.

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COMPLEMENTARY COLOR

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Colors, such as red and green, that lie opposite each other on the color wheel.

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GAMUT

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Complete range of colors available within 1 system of reproduction, e.g., CMYK or RGB gamut.

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PRIMARIES

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Red, yellow, blue

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SECONDARIES

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A mix of any two primaries (red, yellow, blue)

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SPOT COLOR

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Any flat color, printed as a solid, and not made up of CMYK.

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SUBTRACTIVE COLOR

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System used in printing, based on CMYK colors.

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TERTIARIES

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A mix of any two secondaries (a mix of 2 primaries-red, yellow, blue)

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ADVANCING/RECEDING COLOR

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Colors in the red spectrum appear to advance to the human eye, whereas those in the blue spectrum appear to recede.

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SIMULTANEOUS CONTRAST

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The human eye tends to differentiate between 2 neighboring colors by emphasizing differences rather than similarities—background colors affect foreground colors (image).

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VIBRATION

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Complementary colors of equal lightness and high saturation tend to make each other appear more brilliant.

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WEIGHT

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Colors differ in “weight.” E.g., if a man was to move 2 large boxes equal in size but one pale green and the other dark brown, he would probably pick up the green one because it appeared lighter. It is generally assumed that blue-greens look lighter whereas reds appear stronger, and therefore heavier

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HARMONY

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Image with a balance of 2 or more colors that work together, e.g., leaf green and beige.

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ASSOCIATIONS

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Connections between colors and emotions, culture, experience, and memory.

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CONNOTATIONS

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A color’s broader associations, e.g., green=jealous, naivety, illness, environmnt, nature.

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DENOTATIONS

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What the color literally means, or is, e.g., a red rose is a green stem with red petals.

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DATA

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Facts or pieces of information of any kind.

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DIAGRAM

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Drawing or plan that explains the parts of something, or how something works.

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QUANTITATIVE

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Related to quantities of things, or measurements (numerical).

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SCHEMATIC

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Simplified diagram or plan related to a larger scheme or structure.

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STATISTICAL

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Related to the collection, classification, and organization of (often numerical) information.