Five Graphic Design Terms to Help you Talk the Talk!

Do you sometimes feel that your designer is speaking another language? I have picked 5 of the most commonly used graphic design terms, and provided definitions so you can communicate more effectively with your designer.

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  Posted by Rick Sader, Seattle, Washington | May 08, 2008

  Nancy;

  Very useful info. If you don't mind, can I add a few more?

  6. RGB. This is another color mode in addition to CMYK mentioned above. RGB stands for Red, Green, & Blue. The reason it's important is that some devices are CMYK (like offset presses that belt out brochures) and other devices are RGB (inkjet printers). You can design your graphics in either CMYK or RGB and you can even convert back & forth. BUT... the conversion will often introduce color shifts. So to be safe, design your business cards & brochures in CMYK. Design your vinyl banner, poster, backlit display, etc. to be produced on a large-format inkjet printer in RGB.

  7. Resolution. The web is so great. You can just copy & paste a cool graphic from someone's website into your 4' x 10' banner. ERRRRRR..... nope (never mind the legality issue). Graphics small enough to load quickly on the web will be too low in resolution (pixels per inch (ppi) ) to be blown up to poster or banner size. Nothing worse for a print provider like me than to get a 72 ppi image at 1" x 2" and be asked to make it a 2' x 4' poster.

  8. BITMAP v. VECTOR. Wow, really getting deep now.... Bitmap images are made up of pixels (little dots of color). Vector images are made up of equations that define things like lines, area fills, etc. That's important because those vector images can be scaled up without loss of image quality. (guys like me love that - billboard size, here I come!). Those pesky bitmap images can still be scaled up but at a cost of becoming pixelated (grainy).

  9. VIEWING DISTANCE. Related to resolution. Next time you're at the art gallery, notice how many folks will look at a piece and then get up really, really close. I do it too. Most inkjet prints are (or should be) designed with viewing distance in mind. The further away the piece is to be viewed, the lower in resolution you can get away with. You wouldn't print a fine art piece at 72dpi - too grainy. Nor would you, at the other extreme, print a vehicle wrap at 1,440dpi - not enough megabytes in all of Seattle or time in the day to do that.

  Thanks for letting me add on to your article.

  Rick Sader
  Lone Eagle Digital Imaging, LLC
  www.LoneEagleDigital.com

  Rick Sader, digital imaging specialist
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  Posted by David Billings, Portland, Oregon | May 08, 2008

  Great article, Nancy. I love educating clients on the process. It helps create even better work in the long run, which translates to higher value for the client's money.

  Rick: How many times have you explained bitmap vs vector to clients? I'm not sure I can count that high myself, but it tells me one thing: I can't assume clients speak my language! That's a good lesson in any biz.

  Great tips.
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  Posted by Nancy Owyang, Mill Creek, Washington | May 08, 2008

  Rick~ Those are all excellent additions. I had made the decision to only write about 5 terms, thinking that there would probably be a Part 2 someday down the line... you took a good chunk out of my list for Part 2! :) And maybe I'll write one just on file types... JPG, GIF, EPS, TIFF, PSD, AI, INDD... we use a lot of letters. You did a great job of describing Bitmap vs Vector and Resolution, I find those to be very difficult concepts for people to understand.
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  Posted by Nancy Owyang, Mill Creek, Washington | May 08, 2008

  David~ Thanks for the comments. I enjoy the education process as well; I believe that it builds a better relationship between me and my clients... seeing eye-2-eye... one of the many reasons I named my business Eye 2 Eye Graphics. Thanks!
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  Posted by Rick Sader, Seattle, Washington | May 08, 2008

  Didn't mean to steal any of your thunder, Nancy. I owe you a latte. see ya.

  Rick

  Rick Sader, digital imaging specialist
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  Posted by David Berkey, Edmonds, Washington | Jun 10, 2008

  Hey all, Nancy always deserves a latte.

  Great article, and I love the additions, which as you pointed out, Nancy, could go on and on. Rick helped to show another part of the iceberg. As noted, there is so much more below the surface. I believe that one reason people in the graphic arts industry find it fascinating, there is soooooo much to know, learn and teach. Plus, there is always something new.

  David

  All Access Printing & Mailing 206.356.5873
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  Posted by Nancy Owyang, Mill Creek, Washington | Jun 10, 2008

  Thanks David!

  That is definitely one of the reasons I love graphic design. There is always something new, and it is a fascinating combination of the technical and the creative.

  One of my favorite design quotes is by designer Paul Rand, "Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that's why it is so complicated."