Vector Graphics

Vector graphics are made up of two sets of points: control points (which determine shape) and anchor points (determining length). Anchor points attach geometry to form a shape like a ball or a heart.

More terms you might want to know

Sketching

A basic design tool that helps designers create and communicate ideas.

Orphan

One or more words (typically at the end of a paragraph) that are separated from the rest of the text. Orphans are generally thought of as bad design, but it’s a matter of taste.

Font Colour

Also known as text colour, is a visible attribute of text determined by the combination of text and background colour.

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.

Design Thinking

An iterative process that designers use to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine the problems to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding. Design Thinking provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. It is a way of thinking and working as well as a collection of hands-on methods.

Body Copy

The main text of an advertisement or editorial as opposed to headings and subheadings.

Hue

A colour that appears to be pure and lacks any lightness (or tone) or saturation.

Serial Position Effect

A phenomenon in psychology in which recalling items in a list imposes an order on the list, with the first and last items remembered best. That is, if given a list of words to remember like "dog apple tree", people will tend to recall "dog" as being at the beginning of the sentence and "tree" as being at the end of it.

Brand

A name, symbol or other distinctive feature that distinguishes one business's product from another's, often associated with a logo, design, slogan and other items.

Vector

A graphic element that has a definite length and direction. Examples of vectors would be straight lines, edges, or curves.

Problem?

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