65 Design Terms You Should Know | FREE COURSE

Hi there, and welcome to this course, 65 Graphic Design Terms You Should Know. My name is Lora Keong, and I have been in the design field for 12 years. In all of these years, I have learned that design has its own language. If you're a designer, knowing the right words and concepts will help you explain your visual work and your ideas clearly. In this course, we'll take a look at some of the most basic, complex, and often misused design terms. We will look at essential words like composition and balance, to technical terms like DPI and PPI, and important topographic terms that will help you position yourself as the expert in the design field. So let's get started. In this lesson, we will talk about the 10 essential design principle terms. These fundamental principles of design are rules designers must follow to create an effective and attractive composition. By creating designs that are based on functional rules, we make sure that the message is successfully conveyed. While it is encouraged to experiment visually, we believe that learning the basics first will help us create visually balanced graphics. So let's take a look at the first term, composition. Composition, it's also called layout, is a visual arrangement of design elements that create a complete image. Within a composition, you may use different principles of design to create visually pleasing work to deliver a functional layout. Next up, we have balance. Balance is any element placed on a page that has a visual weight that can be affected by form, size, color, and texture. In order to make a layout balanced, some elements might need to have a certain scale. Alignment refers to the position of the element on a layout, the way the visual elements are arranged so that they line up. The alignment can be left, right, justified, or centered. Repetition in design. Repetition creates consistency by repeating the same element within a layout multiple times. For example, page numbers. Contrast. Contrast is the level of differentiation between different design elements to create visual hierarchies. The variation may be in form, color, texture, and size. Negative space. Negative space is the blank area around a design element. It is used to emphasize certain parts of a layout and to zone into a specific element. Hierarchy. In graphic design, you will quickly learn to arrange elements by the level of importance. In order to create hierarchy, you need to have contrast in your design. If one image is larger than the other, this will place the emphasis on the larger image and the reader will look at it first. Symmetry versus asymmetry. Symmetry refers to the equal amount of elements reflected on a page. If you were to draw a vertical line through the center, the elements can sometimes be mirrored, or the visual weight can be the same from one half to the other. The opposite of symmetry is asymmetry. The elements of both sides of the center line are unequal and can create an unbalanced design. Grid. Grids are a group of intersecting vertical and horizontal lines that can help you structure content on a page. There are many types of grids for different uses, but the common denominator is that they help keep the content organized and clean. Design principles are very important rules for graphic designers. It will help you understand the basics of creating a layout, so you can eventually break the rules. In the next lesson, we will take a look at 10 important color definitions you should know. We'll see you there. Hi there, and welcome back to this course, 65 Design Terms You Should Know. In this lesson, we will take a look at 11 important color definitions you should know. Color is a big area in graphic design, and if you don't know the right terms, it can turn complicated very easily. So let's take a look. What is the difference between CMYK and RGB? CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and K for Key or Black. These are the four most basic colors you can use for printing. You will notice CMYK colors aren't as vibrant as RGB, and this is because CMYK is subtractive. This means that the colors work with a reflected light. RGB colors are used on screen only. It stands for Red, Green, and Blue. And this color mode is additive, meaning that by mixing these primary colors in different combinations, we can simulate a bigger range of color. Grayscale is a monochromatic palette using different shades of gray in an image. A single image is composed of up to 256 combinations of shades of gray. What is opacity? Opacity refers to the level of transparency on an element. The lower the opacity, the more transparent the element is. If the opacity is set to 100%, it means the object is solid. Saturation. Saturation refers to the intensity of a color. You will notice saturated images appear brighter and punchier. Desaturated images are dull and almost colorless. Hue. Hue is a way to describe a pure color without tint or shade. That means added white or black. For instance, any color on the color wheel is a hue. Blue, Yellow, Red. Tone refers to a hue with added gray. The tone will lower the intensity of color and it can become dull. Tint refers to a hue with added white to lighten it and make it paler. The tint can range anywhere from a slightly lighter color all the way to completely white with barely any color. Shade refers to black added to a color. This is the opposite of tint. Instead of making the color lighter, shade will darken it. What is a color palette? A color palette is a group of colors that can be used for a specific design project. This color palette usually represents a brand and should be chosen to work in harmony with each other. What is Pantone system? PMS or Pantone matching system is the most widely used system for blending colors that aren't CMYK. Every hue is identified by a number that is easy for designers to reference and reproduce when printing. Those are the 10 important color definitions you should know. In the next lesson, we will take a look at important technical terms. Hi, and welcome back to this course, 65 Design Terms You Should Know. Explaining technical terms to your clients can be daunting, especially if they don't have a design background or a basic understanding of how design files work. In this lesson, we will talk about eight important technical terms you should know. What is resolution in graphic design? The resolution of an image determines the file quality. A high-resolution image will be crisp, and wherever the focus is, it will have defined edges. The higher the resolution, the higher the quality. A low-resolution image will be pixelated and blurry. What are pixels? A pixel is the smallest basic unit of color on a computer that makes up images. Depending on the amount of these tiny squares, you can have a high or low-resolution image. What is the difference between PPI and DPI? PPI stands for pixels per inch. It is a measurement used to define the resolution of a screen, most commonly monitors, cameras, and scanners. DPI is similar to PPI, but it's used for printing, and it stands for dots per inch. Printers produce images composed of small dots that affect the printing quality of an image. What is the difference between crop and closed crop? Cropping refers to eliminating unnecessary parts of an image. By doing this, you'll change entirely the direction, emphasis, and even composition of an image. Closed cropping refers to cutting out a specific element from an image. This is mainly done for headshots if you wish to use a different color background. What is trim size? Trim size is the final size of a printed project after it's been trimmed. The trim size is guided by the crop marks that are on a printed sheet. Rule of thirds. Imagine a three-by-three grid on top of an image or a design. The four spots where the lines intersect indicate the focal point, and these areas are where the most important elements should be placed. These are eight important technical terms you should know. In the next lesson, we will take a look at typography. Hi, and welcome back to 65 Design Terms You Should Know. In the world of typography, there are many terms that are necessary for beginner designers to understand. A few of these terms are widely confused and misused. In this lesson, we will touch on 18 typography terms you should know. What is the difference between serif and sans serif? A serif is a small extra stroke at the end of each character. A font family using serifs is called a serif typeface. These typefaces are usually easier to read because the extra stroke allows our eyes to follow the characters more easily. Serif typefaces are widely used for body copy as they are deemed elegant and highly legible depending on the size. A sans serif character is a character that doesn't have the small strokes at the end of each character. Sans serifs are also used as body copy, but most predominantly on screen as they don't have small details that can be difficult to render. What is a script font? Script typefaces are based on handwriting, and they can be either historical or modern. They possess a fluidity compared to other traditional typefaces. These fonts are usually used as display. What is a slab serif font? Slab serifs are characterized by thicker and heavier serifs compared to regular serif fonts. Slab serifs can be square, angular, or rounded depending on the typeface. What is monospace in typeface design? Monospace fonts have a fixed width, meaning each character occupies the same amount of horizontal space. You tend to see these in typewriters or when setting computer codes. What is the difference between kerning and tracking? Kerning is the space between two specific characters. Certain pairs of letters can create awkward spaces, and by kerning them, you can adjust the space between them. By adjusting the space, you can improve the legibility. Similar to kerning, tracking applies to a group of letters. What is leading in graphic design? Leading determines the distance between multiple lines of text. This ensures that the lines aren't touching and that there is enough space to read the lines comfortably. What is weight in font design? Weight refers to the thickness of a character relative to its height. A typeface may come in many different weights and most usually come with a normal and bold weight. It isn't unusual to see fonts with anywhere from four to a dozen weights. What is point size? A font is measured in point size, and it dictates the height of the character. There are 72 points in one inch, or 2.54 centimeters. What is the difference between uppercase and lowercase? Uppercase characters are used at the beginning of sentences or the first letter of proper names. They're also called capitals or caps. The name uppercase comes from the old-school typesetting printing process. Printers kept capitals in the upper drawer of a desk. Lowercase glyphs are the non-capital letters that make up the rest of a text block. The name lowercase comes from the old way of setting type with printing presses. Printers kept the lowercase letters in the lower drawer of a desk. What are small caps in design? Small caps are uppercase characters that are shorter than regular uppercase given in a font. Some typefaces come with small caps while others don't. They will usually be the same height as lowercase characters or just slightly taller. What is Lorem Ipsum? Lorem Ipsum is placeholder text that can help you show your design without meaningful content. It is mostly used at the beginning of a design project to mock up the design until the final copy is available. Readability vs. Legibility Readability refers to the way blocks of text are arranged on a page. Legibility refers to how well one character can be distinguished from another. What are widows and orphans? Widows and orphans are seen when typesetting text. A widow is a short line of a word at the end of a paragraph or a column causing too much white space between paragraphs at the bottom of a page. An orphan is a short line or a single word at the beginning of a column or a page. And those are 18 typography terms you should know. In the next lesson, we will take a look at the different logo design styles. Hi there and welcome back to this course 65 Design Terms You Should Know. There are several different styles of logos, each with its own purpose and strength. In this lesson, we will go through the eight logo design styles you need to know. Let's take a look. Lettermark or monogram A lettermark is a type-based logo made of a few letters. It is often used if a company's name is made of two or more words. A lettermark will shorten the company name by using only its initials, resulting in simplicity. Wordmark A wordmark focuses on the business name alone rather than reducing it to a single lettermark. Pictorial mark Also known as a brand mark. A pictorial mark refers to a graphic-based logo. It is usually an icon that has been simplified and stylized to represent a brand. Abstract mark This is the opposite of a pictorial mark. An abstract mark is not based on a real object. Instead, it is an abstract geometric representation that represents a business. Emblem An emblem logo is a mark in which the name of a business is contained within a single shape. An emblem is not necessarily just for the corporate world. You'll see emblems representing schools or sports teams. These days, you can find them in gaming channels. Mascots Mascot logos include stylized illustrator characters that can be animated and become a brand's spokesperson. Combination mark A combination mark is a mix of a wordmark and an abstract or pictorial mark or a mascot. The layout of this mark can vary depending on the elements. Favicon Favicon is a shortcut icon, a distilled logo based on a primary logo that's used on a website for branding purposes. Sometimes, favicons can also be used as profile pictures on social media. And these are some of the examples of the 8 logo design styles you need to know. In the next lesson, we will talk about image file formats. We'll see you there. Hi there and welcome back to this course, 65 Design Terms You Should Know. If you're new to design, file formats can be confusing. Each has its own purpose and application. In this lesson, we will dive into the definition of 10 must-know image file formats. Let's get started. What is a raster image? Raster images are made up of a set of grid pixels that together make an entire image. There are some limitations to these files. If you want to stretch a raster image, it will get pixelated and blurry. What is GIF? GIF stands for graphic interchange format. This file format supports animation and transparency. It can only display up to 256 colors, which allows you to have small files, perfect for the web. What is a JPEG image? JPEG is the most widely known raster file. JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. Anywhere from images on an email to photos and anything you find online, JPEG doesn't have the ability to be transparent. It's suitable for web and print. What is PNG? If you're looking to maintain some quality when an image is compressed, PNG is for you. PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics, and it was created to improve the quality of GIF. What is a TIFF image? TIFF images are mostly used in layout design and InDesign. It stands for Tagged Image File Format, and the format produces a higher quality image compared to the formats mentioned before. What is a PSD file? Adobe Photoshop's document format is PSD or Photoshop Document. What is a vector? Vector graphics are made out of small graphics like points, lines, and curves. The shapes within a vector use a mathematical equation that allows the vector to be resized without compromising the quality. Vectors won't get blurry, unlike the raster image format. What is an AI file? AI stands for Adobe Illustrator. This format was developed by Adobe to represent single-page vector drawings in EPS and PDF. What is an EPS file? EPS stands for Encapsulated Postscript, and it is a resizable format that contains vectors, mostly used for logos so they can be scaled as needed in any type of project. What is a PDF? PDF stands for Portable Document Format and was developed by Adobe. This format is the most used format to be downloaded and viewed on any computer. From the vector standpoint, Adobe Illustrator can embed PGF data, that's Illustrator's native format, onto a PDF so it can be used as a vector format. And those are the 10 must-know image file formats. In the next video, we will do a roundup of this course, 65 Design Terms You Should Know. We'll see you there. Hi there, and welcome back to the last lesson of 65 Design Terms You Should Know. In this course, we looked at the most essential concepts in design. This type of terminology can help you translate your compelling artwork into verbal conversations. We looked at some of the most basic design principles like symmetry, color definitions like the difference between CMYK and RGB, all through to important image file format. These terms can help you explain your visual artwork to potential clients and establish yourself as the expert in the field. My name is Laura Kyung, and from all of us at Envato, we hope you enjoyed this course and we'll see you on the next one.