Italics

A type of typographical contrast used to convey emphasis. Italics were initially developed for the printing press and are now widely used in print, web design, public signs and labelling systems.

More terms you might want to know

Printer's Proof

A print that the printer receives to monitor the progress of production. Proofing is a matter of looking at the print to ensure that it has been printed correctly and that the colours are rendered accurately.

AI File

An Adobe Illustrator vector format file. Files with the extension .ai are often used for artwork and illustrations as users can resize them without distortion. It is composed of several layers with objects and text on each layer. Users can import Illustrator files into many other programs like InDesign, Acrobat, Photoshop etc. If you design or print your t-shirts, you can create your designs in Illustrator and apply them to your t-shirt using a heat press.

Pica

A unit of measurement that equals 1/6 of an inch, or 1/72 of a foot.

Wordmark

A logo which is usually a combination of text and graphic imagery that acts as the company's symbol.

Material Design

A design language developed by Google. The goal of Material Design was to create fluid, natural movement for users on any platform they happen to be using.

Font Style

Designers and developers use font styles to denote differences in meaning between two or more words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or blocks of text. Typical font styles in CSS and web development are normal, italic, oblique and inherit.

Usability Testing

A process in which subjects use a product or service under test conditions and report their experience.

Hand-lettering

The art of drawing original characters and symbols — especially for decorative purposes.

Thumbnail Sketch

A quick and rough sketch of what you are about to work on. Good for getting the ideas out of your head and onto the page while you're still in that creative phase.

Hero Image

The primary graphic that appears at the top of a webpage, designed to grab people's attention.

Problem?

Got a suggestion or found an issue with the glossary?
Let me know!