11/04/2015
5 Word Pairs Every New Designer Needs to Know
Breaking into the design world, whether it’s print or digital, can be overwhelming. On top of learning new skills and methods, you also have to learn an entirely new vocabulary. You will get to know many of these words through practice, but there are a few that you must know as a beginner.
Read on for the need-to-know word pairings in typography, color, and composition that will get you to the next step in your designs.
1. Serif / Sans-Serif
There are tons of rules and concepts regarding typography, but the serif/sans-serif division is the most basic. Serif typefaces have flourishes on the edges of each character’s strokes. Sans-serif typefaces do not.
This difference is easy to understand, but knowing when and how to use a serif or sans-serif typeface is a bit more difficult. You’ll find most printed materials, like newspapers and books, use serif fonts because they are easier to read in print. On a computer screen, sans-serif fonts are used more often because they’re easier to read at lower resolutions.
Typeface pairings are a major consideration in design. A serif display typeface and a sans-serif text typeface (or vice versa) creates interesting contrast, but not any pairing will do. Though the goal is to create contrast, it’s important to offset theatrical display typeface with a neutral text typeface. When in doubt, just keep things simple.
2. Leading / Kerning
There is no shortage of beautiful typefaces available for your designs, but they could often use some manual adjustments. Kerning is the process of distributing space between letters and words to increase readability or to achieve a certain style. Leading is similar to kerning, but it dictates how text is spaced vertically. You might see this referred to as line height.
Kerning should only be used for display typefaces, and never for text typefaces, which have already been designed to be easy to read in longs blocks of text. It’s especially useful when you’re dealing with free fonts, which don’t always pay special attention to spacing. Leading can be applied to both display and text typefaces, and it’s especially important to deploy in large bodies of text in order to enhance legibility.
Your ultimate goal when adjusting kerning and leading is to create balance and rhythm between each character. Pay special attention to negative space when you’re playing around with these functions. If you’re having trouble distinguishing small changes, squint your eyes to focus on the negative space and find inconsistencies.
3. Vector / Raster
If you’re at all interested in digital design, this is your most crucial word pair. Raster graphics are made up of a finite number of pixels or dots. If you enlarge or minimize a raster graphic, it will become grainy because the pixels cannot conform precisely to a smaller or lager space.
Vectors, on the other hand, don’t use pixels — they use points and lines that are infinitely scalable. This means vector graphics can be enlarged or minimized without losing image quality. This is essential when you’re dealing with logos or icons, which have to be scalable to many sizes for different purposes.
The most common form of raster graphics is a photograph. Look for the file extensions .jpg, .png, .tiff, .psd, .bmp, and .gif to know if you’re dealing with a raster. Vector graphics, on the other hand, are commonly found with extensions .svg, .ai, and .eps.
4. CMYK / RGB
Some designs are meant to be printed. Others are meant for the web. This simple difference in output defines these two color modes. CMYK, which stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, is a four process color used for printing. A printer lays down dots of each base color in order to create the final color. RGB, which stands for red, green, and blue, is used for web and digital coloring.
Each of these processes manipulates light differently. In CMYK process, the printing paper begins as white, and the base color inks are added over each other in order to subtract the amount of light absorbed by the paper.
RGB is an additive light process, meaning color is created by adding different colored lights to create new colors. Red, green, and blue are the primary lights, whose various combinations create all the colors we see on the Web.
5. Spot / Process
Most colors are printed using the CMYK process where dots of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are laid over each other at different percentages to create certain colors. Sometimes, CMYK process can’t achieve the perfect color, in the case of neons, metallics, or the precise color of a corporate logo. In this case you might choose to use a spot-color, which is a specific blend of ink made for a specific color.
The most common way to utilize spot-color is through the Pantone Matching System (PMS). Programs like Photoshop also come with Pantone palettes, which offer a stunning array of precise colors.
Even if you don’t plan to print using spot-color, Pantone is an excellent source for color inspiration and knowledge.
These five word pairs will give you a solid foundation for your burgeoning interest in design. The design world has a language all its own, but don’t get discouraged! Each new word you learn will help you develop new skills and expert methods for tackling print and digital projects.
