PDF File

An abbreviation for Portable Document Format. The PDF format was originally developed to share documents between different operating systems in the late 1980s. Any text document, image or page layout can be saved as a PDF file that includes all of the font information needed to display it without losing quality.

More terms you might want to know

Typeface Design

The art and discipline of putting together set of typefaces into a harmonious and readable type system. A typeface designer spends much time considering many things such as clear visual message, readability at different sizes, legibility at small point sizes, ease of use for printing processes on its own or over the top of other fonts.

Lorem Ipsum

A type of text used as filler or placeholder text. Since the dawn of time, it has been around and is sometimes erroneously referred to as "a nonsense sentence used by printers who have run out of typesetting space".

Quick Keys or Shortcuts

A Shortcut is a computer function that performs a set of commands to save time. A Quick Key is a keyboard shortcut used to trigger an action.

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.

Class

A selector that can be applied to any HTML element. Classes should be used when designing for multiple instances. For example, if you want all <h1> tags in the website to look blue, then you could use the class="blue-text" attribute.

Empathy

A type of understanding that is achieved by taking the perspective of another individual. Different people's perspectives often have different needs and values, so empathy can help you understand those differences.

Isolation Effect

A psychological principle which predicts that when multiple homogeneous stimuli are presented, the stimulus which differs from the rest is most likely to be remembered. In other words, people tend to remember items in isolation more than those of a similar nature or objects in clusters. This phenomenon has been applied in designing websites and software with various levels of success.

Gestalt Theory

A theory in psychology that discusses the general idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It's based on a human need to search for stability and meaning, which leads to organic movements towards wholeness. Gestalt Theory assumes there are inherent flaws in how we perceive forms and patterns, and it holds that this innate tendency transforms into an active process of looking for order in reality.

User Interviews

The act of gathering qualitative data about a person's thoughts and feelings related to a product.

Triadic Colours

A triad is a group of three colours that are equally spaced on the colour wheel.

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