Opacity

The measure of how easily light passes through a material. It is a quantitative characteristic that can be represented as a number within the range of [0, 1], and in some cases [0%,100%], with lower numbers indicating higher transparency.

More terms you might want to know

Monochrome

Designs that are created in one colour. It can be any colour, but the whole design will range from light to darker shades. As the name implies, it is typically a single hue, with black and white also being typical combinations for this type of design.

Font Case

The way characters are capitalised within a word or phrase. Common font cases are uppercase, lowercase, capitalised (or title case) and sentence case.

Hierarchy

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.

Soft Return

Also called a line break, when you want to keep the text in one paragraph and not follow it with an airy space.

Gamification

The process of adding game-like qualities to an experience like a website or application. To ensure that these activities are engaging enough for the users, it often includes gradual rewards such as levels and badges systems, which can further encourage engagement with the app.

Onboarding Flow

The process of a new user being brought in to a new product. The design for this process aims to have an effective, efficient, and engaging user experience.

Type Classification

A system used to describe and identify typefaces by their basic visual characteristics.

Saturation

The intensity of a color relative to its own brightness. Colours are said to be saturated when they have a strong hue and high intensity.

Call to action (CTA / C2A)

An element that prompts viewers to take a desired course of action. This type of marketing technique is used by businesses and marketers to increase page visits or sales in a certain period.

Pantone (PMS)

The Pantone Matching System is a colour-matching system for printing inks. It is a proprietary colour-matching system that was developed so that when an artist picks PMS colour or swatch, they can be confident in knowing what colours would be produced no matter the application.

Problem?

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