Annual report: A booklet or book that describes the progress and accomplishments of an organization during a specific time period.
Art: In the design world this term is used for drawings, photographs, or similar works used in a print piece, advertisement on a web site or in a video production.
Art Director: The artist who is responsible for the overall look and conceptual development of a piece or package of pieces. The Art director makes all creative decisions and recommendations.
Banner: A one piece rolled, or hinged pieces sectioned together when mounted individually on boards. Banners are used to highlight or advertise a special event or provide information.
Binding: The method used to hold the pages of a book together.
Bleed: When a page or a cover design extends to and off the edge of the paper it is called a "bleed". The art must extend off the edge off the page. The image is printed on larger paper, and then the page is trimmed to the desired size.
Body copy: Refers to the small type containing the bulk of the message in an ad or a publication.
Booklet: A multiple page document that is bound together.
Brochure: A printed piece that folds to a smaller size.
Business Cards Printed: Cards that commonly have your address, phone and fax numbers email address and your title and organizations logo. See Identity Package.
Busy: Too many elements in a design that may confuse the viewer's eye. (Or an artist on a good day!)
Camera-ready: The complete art to be printed or published, including art and type, ready for the printing process or to be copied.
Caption: A short description or explanation about a piece of art, placed close to the art.
Center spread: Art that appears on the two facing pages in the center of a magazine or booklet.
Certificate: A single piece designed for framing that recognizes the accomplishments of an individual.
Charts and Graphs: Visual illustrations that depict and clarify data or statistics.
Clip art: Art prepared for use in numerous applications, usually copyright free. Clip art is available in printed books, and on computer software. It is less expensive than custom illustrations or photographs.
Coated paper: A paper that has been treated to give it a smooth, shiny surface.
Collage: The combination of several images to a single surface to create a piece of art. Can be done with original images or in a digital format.
Comprehensive or comp: A layout illustrating a proposal depicting what a finished piece will look like.
Continuous-tone: Art or a photograph that has a range of values from dark to light.
Contrast In: the design and print world this can mean elements that are different from each other. This word can also be used to describe the quality of a photograph and whether it has a good range of darks and lights both of which show detail.
Cool: Designs, illustrations, photographs, videos and websites regarded by others as current, cutting-edge, provocative, etc.
Cool colors: Colors that recede from the viewer, and tend to be restful, including blues and greens. Opposite of warm colors. (reds and oranges)
Copy: The text written for an ad, printed piece or website.
Copyright: The exclusive right to the publication or distribution of a work of art.
Cover stock: A term used by paper manufacturers for a heavy paper that is suitable for covers and folders.
Cropping: Eliminating elements of an image that detract from it, to focus on a piece of an image or to make an image abstract by removing pieces.
Design: The arrangement of elements, both text and visuals, to visually and creatively communicate an idea or message.
Designer: An artist trained to present information visually in a clear and creative manner. Most designers have a traditional fine arts background as well as skills in commercial art.
Desktop publishing: Setting type and arranging elements using a computer and software designed for this purpose.
Die-cut: A type of printing process that uses a metal plate with sharp ridges for cutting sections out of paper, such as windows out of a cover or to cut a custom shape.
Digital: A piece of information recognizable and therefore manipulatable and storable on a computer.
Embossing: Using a printing process that include creating a metal die, for impressing a design of some type into paper. This technique can be used with or without ink.
Finishing: The final phase of the printing process this includes: folding, collating, and drilling holes, scoring, and binding or gluing.
Flyer: A one-sheet advertisement that is usually inexpensively produced.
Flush: A column of type aligned vertically either on the left and/or right side. Includes flush right, flush left or flush right and left, which would be called "justified."
Folding: A mechanical finishing process for printing involving the creasing of a page to separate it into panels to fold down to a reduced size.
Font: All the characters of in a specific style of type.
Format: The shape or style of a print piece (i.e. a brochure vs. booklet) or the type of communication used (i.e. a website, video or brochure).
Four-color process: The four colors of ink used by an offset printer to create the entire spectrum of colors. The process colors are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (often abbreviated to CMYK). The printer makes a separate press plate to print each color. Together the four colors blend to reproduce the art as it appears.
Gatefold: A brochure folded so the front opens like two double doors.
Graphic design: The creation of materialâ using art and type, that communicates a message to be reproduced by television, printing, or other visual communication media.
Gripper margin: Unprinted space allowed for the printing press to grip the sheet if the piece is not designed to bleed and later be trimmed out.
High contrast: A piece of art containing both extremely light and dark contrasts.
Identity Package: A group of materials designed and developed to represent the essence of your organization. These packages usually include some or all of these elements: a logo design, letterhead (stationary) and business cards, as well as other collateral pieces such as brochures or newsletters.
Illustration: A picture or diagram created to explain or clarify a concept. Illustrations can be conceptual, abstract or realistic.
Initial cap: A capital letter set at the beginning of a block of type in a point size larger than the other type.
Interactive media: See multimedia.
Italic: A type variation that slants to the right and often has design variations from the regular Roman version of the same face.
Kerning: The amount of space (in very small increments) between all letters in a block of text or a headline.
Layout: 1) A drawing of all the elements planned for a design or 2) the actual process used to create a finished piece by placing text onto pages (laying out text or page layout).
Line art: Art created only in black and white with no grays or colors.
Logo or logotype: The symbol or trademark created to identify an organization, company or product that is set in a distinctive style and usually includes type and color selections that are used consistently.
Margins: The space around the outside of all ad elements on a page including the "top," "foot," "outside" and "gutter" margins. The "gutter" is the space between the design elements and the binding, and the "outside" is on the free side of the paper.
Market research: Research designed to understand the characteristics of the external environment to determine how to best reach a particular group to provide information.
Marketing: Promoting a concept to or informing a group of people about a specific service, opportunity or product.
Masthead: The design of an official heading, containing the name of a magazine, newsletter, or other publication that is released in multiple editions.
Matte finish: A dull surface on a sheet of paper or a product.
Medium: (1) The materials used to produce a work of art, these can be paint, pastels, photography etc. 2) The process chosen to communicate your message, this can be print, web television or radio.
Multimedia/interactive media: A compilation of visual images, sounds, and text information for an electronic media presentation. The visual images may be motion video, digital image capture, or scanned art or photographic sources. The sound may be recorded, or computer created or enhanced.
Newsletter: A publication developed and distributed to inform about events, progress and recent developments within an organization. It often includes development of a heading design (See Masthead)
Point size: Refers to the measurement of a size of type. The point size of type is measured from the top of the tallest ascender (the tallest letter) to the bottom of the longest descender (the letter that extends below the baseline).
Poster Titles: These are banners created to hang over the top of a Research Poster that includes the title of the presentation, the authors and the sponsoring institution. This can be done as a single piece that rolls to carry or several pieces mounted individually on boards and hinged together.
Poster Sessions: These are Research Posters. They are a visual layout of scientific Research findings that usually includes an Abstract, Materials, Methods, Conclusions and References.
Process color: See four-color process.
Proof: In commercial art and printing, a mockup from the designer or the printer that allows the client to review the final layout and make any necessary changes before the final piece is printed, produced or published on the web.
Ragged left: Is type set so the right side of the column is justified (flush) and the left side is contoured. This is also called flush right.
Ragged right: Is type set so the left side of the column is justified (flush) and the right is contoured according to the number of words on each line. This is also called flush left.
Research Posters: Commonly called Poster Sessions; these are a layout of scientific Research findings that usually includes an Abstract, Materials, Methods, Conclusions and References. Design these so that your information will be clear and concise and professional looking. Create high impact original Charts and Graphs or retouch photographs to increase impact. Two common choices for posters. The first choice, Superstats, is a one-piece large size photographic poster that contains all the research information. These can be done in full color or black and white, they roll to carry and can be done in a wide variety of sizes. The second choice is a Board Mounted Poster Session. These are mounted on mat board and cut into smaller pieces so that they are easy to carry. The boards are sized and the layout designed so that they fit together to create uniform display area.
Rough layout: A rough sketch of a proposed layout of a print piece or advertisement, usually for approval before continuing the process of creating final art.
Scoring: Partially cutting through the surface of a piece of paper so it will fold with less cracking.
Scanning: A process that uses electronic equipment to create a digital file from any original.
Screen: A pattern produced that allows the printer to print several shades of one color, This can also refer to a special-effects screen, or with computer software containing special effects tools that allow us to alter an image.
Signature: The term used in printing to identify the sets of four pages that are created in order to facilitate printing and binding of a book. Each page in a book must be part of a set of 4 pages.
Stat: A camera that allows us to make high quality reproductions of a piece of line art without having to make a negative first.
Stock photographs: Photographs of people or things that can be purchased for use in print or on the web. Some general topics are available in commercially available collections.
Storyboard: A series of small, rough sketches that are used to plan the different story scenes in a video production or advertisement. Each scene includes the script and headlines that will be used.
Superstats: Commonly called Poster Sessions, these are a layout of scientific Research findings that usually includes an Abstract, Materials, Methods, Conclusions and References. Superstats are a one piece, large size, photographic poster that contains all the research information. These can be done in full color or black and white, they roll to carry and can be done in a wide variety of sizes.
Tabloid: A paper sized at 11x17 inches. Also refers to a print size slightly smaller than a traditional newsletter.
Text: The body copy in a publication, or on a website.
Thumbnail: A small rough layout that shows concept development.
Title Boards: A banner created to hang over the top of a Research Poster that includes the title of the presentation, the authors and the sponsoring institution. This can be done as a single piece that rolls to carry or several pieces mounted individually on boards and hinged together.
Trademark Art: A design that stands as a symbol for a product or company.
Typestyle: A style of type including italic, medium, or bold.
Virtual reality/virtual environment: The computer-enhanced illusion of being in another environment. The illusion may be created by appealing to one or more or the viewer's senses. Visualization is created in 3-D to enhance the illusion.
White space: The space around the elements in an layout allowing the viewer to rest before reading more text and allowing the designer to arrange elements to maximize impact. Designers love white space.
Widow: The last line of a paragraph carried over to the next column, or a single word on the last line of a paragraph.
Adapted, expanded and customized from a Glossary of Advertising Design Dynamics by Gerard Bowles, with thanks.