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.

More terms you might want to know

Tint

A generic term for adding colour to an image. A tint can be applied by darkening a colour to create different shades or lightening the saturation, creating a washed-out look.

Asymmetry

The degree of difference between the two sides of an object or system.

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.

Grid

A system of columns and rows designers use to create layouts. It's used in graphic design and web development to align elements for easy use on the page. Grids are a key part of design because they help you create balance, rhythm, proportion and hierarchy in your layout.

User Interviews

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

Card Sorting

A UX design technique in which you divide your users into groups, show them cards with different names for unrelated objects and ask them to categorise them.

Lean UX

A philosophy that companies should take a user-centred approach to design, making sure they focus on the customer's needs and not on their company's needs. UX designers need to figure out what users want before building something and not after. They must also ask themselves if including "features" will provide any value to the product or service.

User Interface (UI)

A type of graphical interface that allows the user to interact with the application on a screen, such as a computer monitor or smartphone, using various types of input devices.

Skeuomorphism

The use of design features that are shaped to resemble a familiar object or thing in order to facilitate user interaction.

CMYK

CMYK is a colour space created for the printing process. It stands for Cyan Magenta Yellow Key (black).

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