x-height

The distance between the baseline and the mean line of lowercase letters in a typeface. Nearby descenders (such as j) and ascenders (such as q) usually extend slightly below or above this height.

More terms you might want to know

Widow

The last line of a paragraph following the rest, or a single line in a paragraph that is out of place with the rest.

Analogous Colours

Colours that have a relation in their hue. A colour wheel can be used to help identify analogous colours. Analogous colours are typically found next to each other on the colour wheel.

Pica

A unit of measurement that equals 1/6 of an inch, or 1/72 of a foot.

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.

Close-Crop

Framing consisting of cutting off or obscuring most of the surrounding of a subject, removing distractions from the background and emphasising the subject.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

A term that means the smallest amount of work that can be done to move a project forward.

Font Colour

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

Icon

A small picture or design that represents an idea, function, or some other type of visual concept. For example, in computer graphics and web development, an icon is a pictorial representation of a program or file type.

Tracking

The adjustment of all characters in a line by moving them closer together or farther apart.

Bleed

A printing term that describes how close an object is to the edge of a printed page. Bleeds are often used in graphic design for books, magazines, posters and other printed materials with photographs or illustrations.

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