Questions tagged [terminology]
Questions about terminology, industry specific words used in a given field of study or discipline. It's often referred to as jargon or specialized language related to a chosen profession. Ask anything about the terminology of design words and phrases.
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Name of justification style where the rest of verse is aligned differently
Found in poems in this justification style words that didn't quite make it onto a line but are still part of a logical line (verse) are put below but aligned differently (aligned to the side where the ...
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Dot vs. Pixel - rudimentary explanation
I've read many explanations, but either they all are too abstruse or they gainsay each other.
Why Dots Per Inch Isn't Pixels Per Inch
A dot refers to ink density, effectively; a pixel refers to image ...
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What are these fonts with connected holes called?
I am looking for a font with connected holes like this for my vinyl printing project:
But what is this type of font called?
EDIT
With PieBie answer, I found plenty of stencil fonts and I made some ...
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Technical term for stray pixels
Is there a technical term to designate stray pixels (like clearly visible dots near contours) in raster graphics ? I seem to remember the word "kayatutu" from early Macintosh days but perhaps it was ...
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How to find existing names or associations a symbol has?
I saw a symbol like this, and didn't know what it was called or what existing associations it might have:
It seems like a pretty easy question to answer by looking in a symbol dictionary or an online ...
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Are tittles ("i" and "j") ascenders?
All typography sites seem to be in agreement about most typefaces:
The lower-case letters b, d, f, h, k, l, and t usually have ascenders.
The lower-case letters i and j usually have a dot on top, ...
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Jargon: What do company ad departments call the vector files?
As someone laying out an event program or the like for an amateur production, I need to call the sponsors and ask for the print-layout material for their ads.
I'm getting second hand scans from ...
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How can I talk about drawing and at the same time avoid the assumption that I am only talking about analogue drawing?
In my day-to-day life, I instruct people to deal with problems that have a geometrical or topographical nature. And usually there is a critical step in the process that requires one to draw a picture ...
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What is this design element called?
On some illustrations, you will see an ornate underline beneath text, with curlicues:
What is the technical name for this design element?
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What are fonts halfway between serif and sans-serif called?
I want to experiment with fonts for a textbook (with math, so latex is the typesetting program). How can I find suitable and reasonably popular fonts that are halfway between serif and sans-serif --- ...
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In typography, what is an open counter?
Wikipedia defines counter then gives examples.
Then it proceeds to give examples of open counter without having given any definition of it:
In typography, a counter or aperture is the area of ...
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What’s the name of this typographic treatment with shadows?
I want to find some tutorials on how this effect might be done in Photoshop but I don’t know what to search for. Does anyone know what to call this?
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Term for line based vs area/shape based thinking
I am interested in working out terms to use for following things
If you draw drawings based on lines or segments, and don't worry about the areas they enclose just the lines themselves and how they ...
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What is the proper term for printed book sides?
In german we call it »Schnittverzierungen«. There are different kinds of them, the most common one is »Farbschnitt«, where all sides are colored.
Here are some examples:
Source
Source
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What is it called when you display an outline version of a photograph next to the image and label or number it?
It's usually done when there are a bunch of objects in a photograph and it's hard to identify them or refer to a specific one without confusion.
For instance, I've seen this done with jigsaw puzzles ...
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What do you call one-color concept variations?
When reviewing logo concepts submitted from designers, I want to ask them to include a single-color gray version, like something that would be stamped in a background. Is there a name for this in the ...
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What is the usage of an underline, an overline, or both, around small word such as "the" and "and" called?
You see this often in a store sign, headings in menus, and so on, but small words such as "the" or "and" in a all-caps heading sometimes appear with an underline, an overline, or both, with the ...
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What genre of pixel art were MS-DOS and NES games? How to draw them?
The image below is characteristic of MS-DOS and NES games. What is this kind of pixel art called, and how to paint on a similar canvas where pixels take on a diamond sort of asterisk look (*). 8-bit ...
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Difference between graphic designer and visual designer
I see myself as a multidisciplinary designer. I do both graphic design and web design, with a main focus in visual-identity design. I’m also into illustration as well as type design, and I do work for ...
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What's the centered fluffy art piece called in an article?
I know this, but I can't recollect at all.
What is this thing called?
They are usually centered in a book or writing and I'm certain they have a name but I can't remember for the life of me. They ...
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What is a "visual library" and how to work on it?
Reading through concept art forums, Ive met an opinion, that one of the most important things for a concept artist is to have a vast visual library. Out of the context of that opinion I take that this ...
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Is there a term for branding that is adaptive / modular which can be used to create brands and sub-brands?
It has been quite some time since the City of Melbourne rebranding project, which has arguably popularized the concept of branding design that is adaptive and modular enough to be used in a variety of ...
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Renaissance type: what is the name of the long swash at the end of a line?
In scans of early printed books which use an italic type, I've sometimes seen an alternate letter form used at the end of a line where some extra space needs to be filled up. This alternate form ends ...
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Is there a standard for categorizing typefaces?
So I was reading two documents on typography and each classifies font types in completely different categories.
One document says we have : serif, sans serif, text, script, display and dingbats.
...
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Does this poster convey a “Frenchy” look?
In the brainstorming to give a visual identity to the French Language & Usage StackExchange, one of the proposals is to base the design on vintage posters such as this one:
But I am afraid that ...
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Term for a font that leaves no loose parts
I am trying to figure out what term to use when searching for fonts that are open so that centers of o's, a's, p's etc. will be attached to the background when I use them in cut files.
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Is there a name for this form of 19th-century (?) table of contents design?
I've been remembering and inspired by an old style of table of contents/chapter summaries where a list of short sentences or phrases describing the events or contents of the chapter is presented ...
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Is there a term for 'reference-marker symbols'?
While this is loosely graphic-design related, when doing design for some kind of annotations, one have to work with symbols used as 'reference markers', such as 1 in foo 1. When you need to discuss ...
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What type of graphical projection is this?
I have been creating 2D artwork with buildings drawn like the image above.
For inspiration I have looked at a lot of isometric illustrations but obviously this is much flatter and does not have the ...
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What does "HC" signify in a font name?
Examples: Arial HC, IDAutomationHC39M.
It seems to show up most strong textfrequently with free fonts.
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Is there a name for smaller parts of a glyph in typography?
My understanding is that a symbol in typography is often called a glyph. There are cases when one glyph is composed of multiple "components" with space in between them, e.g. :, ;, etc.
Is there any ...
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Incorrect usage of hyphens in the form “Artist - Song Name”
I’ve read lots of guides about when to use hyphens (-) and when to use dashes (–). The usage is clear to me. And I want to stress a particular case where the hyphen is used incorrectly: “Artist - Song ...
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What are these kinds of typography called?
While talking about typography, we are often presented with beautiful graphics made with types and all. Although I find them very creative, I personally don't have a knack for those. I rather prefer ...
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Technical name for the removal of an image background
Can someone remind me what the technical name is for the removal of a background from a still image?
Our photographer told me years ago, but I've since forgotten and it gets embarrassing!
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What is the name of the enlarged and adorned first letter of a book or chapter?
Is there a name for the decorative, often scrolled, capital letter of the first word of a book or chapter? See the scrolled "T" icon by my user name for an example, or the image below ...
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What exactly is a presentation or pitch deck?
I have seen these terms in different places, so when a client is requesting a presentation or pitch deck to be delivered, does that mean a Powerpoint file specifically, or it can also imply a PDF?
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What is the name of a photographic effect where there are subtle shadows in corners?
If you take pictures and the aperture settings are not ideal, you will see a light shadow in the corners.
Example:
This effect is a sign of bad quality, but is also often used as a design element ...
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What is the name for those lines used in place of words?
What is the name for those lines used in place of words, for example in a cartoon contract? Sometimes they're straight and sometimes they're wavy.
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What is this style of text-as-image called?
I'm seeing a trend (especially on pinterest) of these posters where the image and subject is the text. THe text itself isn't really that important either, it's mainly the typefaces used and ...
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Spec-work vs pro-bono?
What is the difference between spec work and pro-bono?
I have always considered pro-bono work to be a form of spec-work, but I notice that the AIGA position states:
Yet not all unpaid design work ...
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Logo Sub Category Name or Logo Sub Brand Design
I'm looking for the technical term if there is one of when brands have a sub category or sub brand and they alter their logo slightly. I'm looking for some inspiration of this online of how it's done.
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What is the name of the design technique based on dots?
I am searching for more information and resources about a technique I really like: unfortunately, I don't know its name.
It is based on a layout in which everything is drawn with dots of several size,...
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What's the name of this style of chart that splits flows?
Does anyone know what the name of this style chart that shows a flow and has parts splitting off along the x axis?
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Is there an industry term for a ribbon wrapping the corner of a design element?
Is there an industry term for a ribbon wrapping the corner of a design element? I'm going to be referring to this a lot in the near future, and it would be great if I could call it something more ...
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Job title of a person who does web animation
Does anyone know the job title for a person who develop websites just front-end but is heavily involved with creating animations, WebGL and all moving elements?
I know it wouldn't be just a front-end ...
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Finding a suggestion or real name for the new illustration style
It is common knowledge that Flat Design is getting outdated, the new illustrators are opening doors to several options that have been underestimated in recent years. While Flat Design appeared as a ...
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What's the term for the emphasis on the first words in a body of text?
Is there a formal term for when the first word(s) or line of an article are emphasized?
For example, on Wired, the first three words are set in small caps for emphasis, and I've seen similar things ...
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What characteristics define a technical typeface?
I was reading this other question in GD.SE and suddenly realized that I don't know what exactly defines a technical typeface. It is very clear to me what defines a serif / sans-serif / cursive, but ...
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Name for blocky, imprecise illustration style (like Saul Bass, Paul Rand)
Simple question. What's a name for that style of illustration that uses characterful slightly childish blocks of bold colour with imprecise edges, as if the illustration had been put together from ...
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How is a 'design language' different from a style guide or pattern library?
Google calls material design their 'design language'. IBM and Airbnb also call what seems like a style guide a design language or design system.
What's exactly the difference? From what I see at a ...
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