A concept used in systems design to describe the negative consequences of making seemingly innocuous design changes. Shorthand for a product's delayed but inevitable need to be reworked due to earlier, seemingly trivial decisions not having been fully thought through in the original release.
Designers incur this "debt" by making quick and easy choices that save time in the present but cause more complex problems later on down the road when it becomes necessary to change or add something.
The art of drawing original characters and symbols — especially for decorative purposes.
A set of symbols or "characters" including letters, numbers and various other symbols.
The primary graphic that appears at the top of a webpage, designed to grab people's attention.
A specific set of colours, usually with a limited number of values, chosen to suit the needs of a particular design.
The distance from the baseline to the top of a capital letter, number, or other upper-case glyphs.
The art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed.
Also known as visual hierarchy, hierarchy is the ordering of priorities in a design. This may include different visual elements, such as contrast, colour, font size and placement on a page. The graphic designer's job is to create an understandable document using organisational systems that the reader easily understands.
The process of developing a product or design system that can be altered to fit different device and interaction contexts.
A phrase that is used in reference to someone's work. The term pixel-perfect can be used to describe something as being flawless without any errors.
A term that means the smallest amount of work that can be done to move a project forward.