Misunderstoodterms made simple
Graphic design terms that noobs often gets confused.
It's so easy to get these terms mixed up.
The never-ending graphic design glossary
is a killer at times.
Well, I'm here to clear the air. Let's dive in!
Typeface vs Font
TYPEFACE
Different lettering styles.
Times New Roman, Helvetica,
and Arial are not actually fonts,
they're typefaces.
FONT
Variation of weights (light,
bold, and italic) within a typeface
family. Within a typeface, there
can be many fonts,
Tracking vs Kerning
TRACKING
A technique in typography that lets you adjust
the uniform space between groups of letters.
KERNING
To adjust the spacing within individual characters
in a word. A technique to make text look pleasing.
Backdrop vs Background
BACKDROP
It refers to a cloth or screen
at the back of an object. it is
often used in photography.
BACKGROUND
Anything that is behind*
something. A part of a design
or image that appears furthest.
EPS vs AI
EPS
Encapsulated Postscript is a
file format that saves flattened
vector graphics, but does not
support transparency.
AI
A file format that defines
Adobe Illustrator artwork. It
contains unflattened content
that can be edited.
Tint vs Tone
TINT
It is produced by adding white to a base colour,
thus increasing lightness. Base colour + white.
TONE
A greyed down colour becomes a tone, when grey is added to
colours it reduces the chroma of a colour. Base colour + grey.
Lettermark vs Wordmark
LETTERMARK
A Lettermark is a type of logo
consisting an abbreviation,
usually a company's initials
combined or even separated.
WORDMARK
A Wordmark is normally a combination
of letters or typographic treatment of the
name of a company, institution, or name
used for identification and branding
White Space vS Negative Space
WHITE SPACE
Space on the sheet of paper or
digital page where you give breathing
space for your design elements. It
can be any colour and not just white.
NEGATIVE SPACE
A deliberate attempt to leave
space around or within shapes
to create a meaningful visual
illusion,
It's so easy to get
confused by these
terminologies.
I hope this helps explain the differences.
Were there any that confused you?
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