The 25 Common terms of graphic design- for Professinal Designers

You’ve got a creative think & a desire to apply your design talents in a profession, but it’s a little intimidating to hang out with a group of designers who casually throw around platform terms you don’t see daily: Saturation? Bleed? Resolution?


While it may be a bit confusing at first, learning the lingo will not only benefit your work, but it could also enhance your reputation in this platform . Asking a seasoned designer to translate these terms would only shine a spotlight on your inexperience—And you clearly don’t want that. That’s where we come in to help. 


design terms for newbies to know. While this is not an exhaustive list of graphic design terms, it is a great position to begin. Read on to bring out what the experts say you should know:

1. RGB: 

The RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green & blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additive primary colors, red, green, & blue.

2. CMYK: 

The CMYK color model (process color, four color) is a subtractive color model, used in color printing, & is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in some color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, & key (black).

3. Kerning:

In typography, kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result. Kerning adjusts the space between individual letter forms, while tracking (letter-spacing) adjusts spacing uniformly over a range of characters.

4. Trim :

This is where your printed piece will be cut down to its correct size. It represents the final dimensions of your project. 

5. Bleed:

This is the portion of your design that extends past the trim size. Bleed is cut off when the publication is trimmed to the final size. Its sole purpose is to make sure your design / artwork/ image reaches the very edge without leaving any unsightly white edges.

6. Pica:

 It is a hair less than 1/6 inch, & contains 12 points. Picas are typically used to represent fixed horizontal measurements, most often column width. They are commonly used when designing newspapers, magazines, newsletters, & ads. Picas are designated with the letter "p", such as: 32p.

7. Comp:

In graphic design & advertising, a comprehensive layout or comprehensive, usually shortened to comp, is the page layout of a proposed design as initially presented by the designer to a client or buyer, showing the relative positions of text & illustrations before the final content of those elements has been decided upon. 

8. Serif:

In typography, a serif is a small line attached to the end of a stroke in a letter or symbol. A typeface with serifs is called a serif typeface. A typeface without serifs is called sans-serif or sans serif, from the French sans, meaning "without". Some typography sources refer to sans-serif typefaces as "Grotesque"  or "Gothic", & serif typefaces as "Roman". 

9. Sans Serif:

In typography & lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letter form is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif fonts tend to have less line width variation than serif fonts.

10. Lorem Ipsum:

In publishing & graphic design, "Lorem Ipsum" is a placeholder text commonly used to demonstrate the visual form of a document without relying on meaningful content Replacing the actual content with placeholder text allows designers to design the form of the content before the content itself has been produced. 

11. Hierarchy:

A system for grouping the type based on the order of its importance so the reader can easily navigate through the content. 

12. Image Resolution: 

It refers to the number of pixels in an image. Resolution is sometimes identified by the height & width of the image as well as the total number of pixels in the image.

13. Grid:

In graphic design, a grid is a structure  made up of a series of intersecting straight (vertical, horizontal, & angular) or curved guide lines used to structure content. The grid serves as an armature or framework on which a designer can organize graphic elements  in a rational, easy-to-absorb manner. A grid can be used to organize graphic elements in relation to a page, in relation to other graphic elements on the page, or relation to other parts of the same graphic element or shape.

14. Vector Graphic:

Vector graphics is the creation of digital images through a sequence of commands or mathematical statements that place lines & shapes in a given two-dimensional or three-dimensional space. In physics, a vector is a representation of both a quantity & a direction at the same time.

15.  Bitmap:

It's defines a display space & the color for each pixel or 'bit' in the display space. A JPEG  & a Graphics Interchange Format are examples of graphic image file types that contain bit maps.

16.  Pixel:

A pixel is the smallest unit of a digital image or graphic that can be displayed & represented on a digital display device.
A pixel is the basic logical unit in digital graphics. Pixels are combined to form a complete image, video, text or any visible thing on a  PC display.

17. JPGE:

It's a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable trade off between storage size & image quality.

18. Saturation:

Refers to the intensity color in an image's color. Increased saturation causes colors to appear purer while decreased saturation causes colors to appear more washed out. 

19. Tracking:

Similar to, yet importantly different from kerning, tracking is adjusting the spacing throughout an entire word. Once kerning has been used to determine the right spacing between each letter, tracking can be used to change the spacing equally between every letter at once.

20. Ton:

This is the lightness or darkness of a design element. Tone is crucial because it is responsible for creating the contrast between light & dark that will draw maximum attention in a design.

21. Style Guide:

A set of design standards for a specific brand to ensure complete consistency in the style & formatting of design assets. This often includes guidelines for color schemes, typefaces & how logos are used & placed within an asset, among others.

22. Orphan:

Also known as a widow, this term refers to the words or short lines at the beginning or end of a paragraph. These words are isolated from the rest of the content, often causing an unwanted focal point.

23. Mock-Up:

A realistic representation of how the design will look; a scale or full-size model of the design used to demonstrate, promote & validate the design. This can also be referred to as a “Proof.”

24. Negative Space:

The space surrounding the words & shapes in your design. Few designers choose to use the negative space to create an additional design, like the arrow found between the “E” & the “X” of the FedEx logo.

25. Typography:

It is the art of using typefaces to communicate. This skill encompasses both the typefaces & the negative space surrounding them.