Continuing the theme of my last post, here is the breakdown of ten terms you might hear graphic designers say!
1. Bleed
Bleed refers to printing that goes beyond the edge of whatever you're making. Having no bleed means that whatever you have will stay within the part of the paper that isn't trimmed, and having things extend to the bleed means that it will cover the whole page. If you have a colored element on a page and want to extend it all the way off but don't make sure it's past the bleed, you will likely get an awkward white line.
2. Branding
Branding refers to the process of creating a cohesive visual identity for a business or an individual. It may consist of a logo, stationery, a website, color palate, business cards, merchandise, or other elements. One of the projects that has appeared on the blog a few times, the Tel Aviv project, is an example of branding.
3. Proof
A proof is the design equivalent of a rough draft. A client will often ask for a proof to see their design in context before deciding on the final design. A proof will often be a fully finished design printed in color, and on the paper the client wants with any other features. Replacement body copy will be used to help the client visualize the final product without distracting from the design.
4. Serif
Serif refers to a classification of typefaces that include a small dash extending off the edge of letters. It is often considered a traditional style, but can look very clean and sophisticated.
5. Sans Serif
Sans serif refers to typefaces without serifs. All the text on my website and my blog posts are written in sans serif fonts. They often have good legibility and readability and look good with modern designs.
6. UI UX
UI UX is a acronym that stands for User Interface and User Experience. This term is mostly used in web and mobile app design, because the user interface is how we interact with computers and apps. User experience is slightly different, it deals more with how the interface looks. UI UX is an emerging design field and many companies are looking to hire designers with this specialty.
7. Vector Graphics
Vector graphics are what separate graphic design from traditional illustration or even something like photography. Photography focuses on pixels and resolution, so if something with too low a resolution is scaled to be very large, it will become blurry and pixelated. Vectors are images made by commands and other mathematical statements creating shapes. When these are scaled up, they will not lose any resolution. The most popular program for vector design is Adobe Illustrator, but there are other alternatives.
8. Lorem Ipsum
Lorem ipsum is the first two words of a chunk of placeholder text that shows up when someone places text into a design. When designing, you want to focus on that and not whatever writing is going into it. It's often a chunk of Latin that no one can actually read, so whoever sees it just focuses on the design and the real body copy comes in later.
9. Grid
Designers use grids to create consistency in their pieces. Just like margins keep us within a page, grids help designers organize their work. They are often invisible in the final product, but a experienced designer will always be able to tell is something has been made without a grid.
10. Mockup
Mockups are made usually in the later stages of a project so the client can see their designs in context. This could be putting a logo on a coffee cup or personalizing business cards, or inserting a advertisement design into a city landscape. They will usually be Photoshop documents with some sort of capability to insert one's own design. The image below is an example.
I hope this clears up some terms that may have been confusing before, if there are any other terms you'd like me to cover, I can continue this series!
Thanks for reading!
xx, Hannah