Margin

The space that an item has around it.

More terms you might want to know

Cap Height

The distance from the baseline to the top of a capital letter, number, or other upper-case glyphs.

Serif

The small decorative stroke at the end of a stroke in a letter, or a typeface.

Microcopy

The small, non-essential text that appears on an interface. It has been set up specifically to be short and concise to draw attention to an essential user experience.

Stem

The part of a letter, usually a vertical line, that rise above the x-height.

Hick's Law

A well-known cognitive psychologist's principle that says that the time it takes to make a decision varies logarithmically according to the number of choices. As more options are presented, more decision time is required due to the mental work of comparing and contrasting each potential option.

Style Guide

A group of rules, guidelines, and/or standards designers use when producing artwork or branded projects ensuring that they have the desired appearance and are compliant with usage guidelines.

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.

Die Cut

A type of print/design created with a metal stamp to create a shape out of paper using a die cutting machine. Die cuts can be used in apparel, home decor and promotional products.

Terminal

The end (straight or curved) of any stroke that doesn’t include a serif. Some typefaces feature ball terminals on letters such as the ‘f’, ‘a’, and ‘c’.

Bottom Navigation

One of the most common types of navigation in UI design. It's usually a system of one or more horizontal buttons placed at the bottom of the screen, directing users to other parts of an app or website. Bottom navigation is often used as an alternative to scrolling or tabbing through links on a page.

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