I love to design, and I have said it before, I am a bit of a nerd when it come to logos, ads, websites, anything that I get to create. I have been immersed in this world for a while, and I tend to forget that it’s a field that has lots of its own funny terms and acronyms that a lot of people might not get.
I’m reminded of this when I shoot out an email to a client or get involved in a phone call and there is silence after I talk for a minute or two about the details of a project. Something I’ve said may need some translation. So I thought that I might write down a few terms that I tend to toss around freely that may need a little extra explanation.
RGB and CMYK
These are both acronyms used for color in design. RBG stands for Red, Green, and Blue. RGB are the three colors used for all graphics that will appear and stay on screen. CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (for Black). CMYK color is used for all graphics that will be printed on paper. These are the four primary printing inks used on all types of printers. The term Key is used for the color Black because all other colors are “keyed” or aligned to the Black color plate.
PMS and HEX
Two other color terms I use a lot are PMS and HEX. PMS is an acronym for the Pantone Matching System. Created by the Pantone company, these are series of thousands of specific shades of color inks. The benefit of using PMS colors is that they are pre-mixed formulas, so no matter what printer you use, you will get the same exact color. HEX is an abbreviation for the Hexadecimal Colors, which are color codes made for Interactive projects and are “web safe,” meaning they will display well on almost all screen devices.
Raster and Vector
Raster and Vector are the two types of images used in graphic design. Raster images are pixel-based images, (think photographic); these are pictures created with lots and lots of small color dots primarily in Adobe Photoshop. The downfall to raster images is their scalability. If you create an image at 5”x5”, when you enlarge it, the quality will decline. Vector images are made based on a series of geometrical points, lines, shapes, and curves primarily in Adobe Illustrator; vector images are completely scalable.
Hires and Lores
In the world of photos, two terms that designers often use are Hires and Lores. These are short for high-resolution and low-resolution, both of which refer to the quality (or lack thereof) of Raster images. The resolution of a photo is determined by how many dots are in one inch square of your photo or Dots Per Inch – DPI. A photo that is being used for screen purposes (video or websites) only needs to be lores or 72 dpi. A photo being used for a print project needs to be hires to look good in a print ad or brochure, the standard being 300 dpi.
Above the Fold
This is an old term that has gained a resurgence in web design. In the past, Above the Fold referred to the content on the front page of a newspaper that was on the top half of the page, above where it was folded in half. Today, this term is being used a lot for the content on a web page that appears immediately onscreen before a user must scroll down to see more. It is important to have any content that you absolutely want your audience to see living above the fold.
Bleed, Trim, and Safety
These three printing terms refer to where you lay out content on the page and how it will be affected by the printer’s cutting machine. The Trim of your artwork is the actual size of the document and where the printer will be cutting the piece of paper after it runs through the press. The Bleed refers to any artwork that runs off of the edge of a page. If you have a picture in your brochure or print ad that you want to go all the way to the edge of the page, a printer will require you to place extra around the Trim, usually 1/8”. A cutting machine at a print shop is not always perfect, especially if it is cutting a large stack at one time, so the Safety is the space inside of the Trim where you can place all important text and images that you absolutely can’t have cut out of your piece, usually 1/4”.
This quick list includes just a small group of terms and acronyms I throw around on a daily basis. I hope it makes it easier for you to talk to me, or whatever Art Director you may encounter in your daily adventures.