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| Elements of Design | The fundamental building blocks of all graphic design. |
| Color | The element of art that is produced when light strikes a specific object. Consists of three aspects: hue, saturation, and brightness. |
| Hue | The appearance of a color without adding black or white, such as Red, Blue, or Green. |
| Saturation | How intense a color is. |
| Brightness | How bright a color is. Increased by adding white to a color or decreased by adding black. |
| Color Scheme | Colors used together in a design. |
| Complementary Colors | Colors that are across from each other on the color wheel. |
| Lines | A point that moves throughout a design. |
| Shapes | Areas of colors defined by lines. |
| Texture | The illusion of a three dimensional physical surface (tactile) created by shapes, lines, and shadows. |
| Principles of Design | A set of rules and standards that when followed, create visually appealing designs. |
| Proportion | The relationship between components in a design or between one component and the entire design. |
| Balance | The way in which visual elements are positioned in a design. |
| Rhythm | The suggestion of movement within a design. |
| Emphasis | The component of a design that first attracts attention. |
| Unity/Harmony | Creating a pleasing design by following the principles of design. Everything belongs. |
| Contrast | Creating impact by having purposefully different components in a design. |
| White Space | The absence of text or graphics in a design; visual breathing room for the eye; helps avoid overcrowding and creates natural flow. |
| Rules of Composition | Established rules for setting up a photograph so that it is visually appealing. |
| Rule of Thirds | Dividing a photograph or video into a tic-tac-toe board. The subject takes up one third of the screen with eyes usually on the bottom third or top third line. |
| Z-Pattern | How people read left to right and top to bottom (in English). For design purposes this creates flow and visual hierarchy. |
| Leading Lines | Lines in a design or photograph that direct the viewer where to look. |
| Focal Point | The focus on a design or photograph. What should the viewer look at first. |
| Framing | Placing objects inside of a “frame”. Used in photography to highlight the subject. |
| Visual Hierarchy | The design process of directing the viewer where to look and what order to look at a design in. |
| Gestalt Principle | How humans perceive grouped objects and patterns. Used to create aesthetically pleasing and easy to understand designs. |
| Digital Graphics | Images or drawings or art created using a computer and software. |
| Bitmap Graphics | Also known as Raster Graphics, these are images made up of individual pixels. They lose clarity as they are enlarged. |
| Vector Graphics | Graphics made up of points and lines using mathematical formulas. Can be scaled without losing clarity. |
| Resolution | How many pixels are in an image usually defined in Pixels Per Inch or Dots Per Inch. |
| Exposure | How much light is used when taking a photograph. |
| Sharpness | The clarity of detail in a photograph. |
| Color Modes | How different components of a color are combined or subtracted to create color. Examples: RGB, CMYK, Grayscale. |
| Color Depth | How many colors an individual pixel can display. |
| Typography | The art and technique of how and why text is displayed. |
| Readability | How easy it is to read text. |
| Font Families | Different fonts that share similar features within one typeface. |
| Serif | A font with a special projection at the end / edges of letters. |
| Sans Serif | Fonts without a special projection at the end / edges of letters. |
| Ornamental/Decorative | A font with pictorial and not text characters. |
| Script | A font that mimics cursive handwriting. |
| Symbols | Fonts that are made entirely of symbols. |
| Leading | Vertical space between lines of text. |
| Tracking | Horizontal space between all of the letters in a body of text. |
| Kerning | Space between two individual characters. |
| Baseline | The line on which letters sit or dip below. |
