3.9 Key Chapter Terms

Chapter 3 Terms

Additive Colour:

A color system that mixes light (reds, greens and blues) to create other colors; used in digital screens.

Alt Text:

Text descriptions of images to aid in accessibility, especially screen readers.

Analogous:

Colors which are adjacent to each other on the color wheel and are considered harmonious.

Balance:

The placement of visual elements to make a design feel stable.

Bar Graph:

A graph that uses rectangular bars to depict data and is useful for comparing data.

Closure:

A design principle, incomplete shapes are perceived as whole due to the brain’s tendency to fill gaps.

CMY:

Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow-Subtractive primary colors in printing.

Colour Palette:

A collection of colors used for a design or a brand identity.

Colour Blindness:

A vision deficiency whereby one cannot differentiate certain colors, usually red and green.

Colour Harmony:

Pleasing color combinations based on specific rules like complementary or analogous schemes.

Colour Management:

Processes which ensure color consistency on devices such as printers and screens.

Colour Modes:

Color creation systems such as RGB (digital) and CMYK (printing).

Colour Perception:

The perception of color by humans in terms of light, context and physiology.

Colour Spaces/Gamuts:

The gamut or range of colors possible within a color system such as RGB or CMYK

Colour Trends:

Current Choruses of Color popular color trends in design given the current culture, fashion, and technology.

Colour Wheel:

A circular diagram showing the relationships of primary, secondary and tertiary colors

Continuation:

Direction, a design principle leading the viewer’s eye in a particular direction.

Contrast:

The difference in visual properties (light vs. dark, large vs. small) to emphasize elements.

Design Principles:

Guidelines like balance, contrast, and proximity to create effective designs.

Digital Colour Systems:

Methods of displaying color on screens, primarily RGB.

Electromagnetic Radiation:

Energy traveling in waves, including visible light and other types like UV and infrared.

Emphasis:

Drawing attention to a specific element in design using contrast or placement.

Figure/Ground:

The relationship between the main focus (figure) and the background (ground).

File Formats:

Standards for storing digital media, such as JPEG for images or MP4 for videos.

Attribution & References

Except where otherwise noted, Terms and definitions are adapted from the pages and original sources cited within chapter 3, CC BY-NC 4.0.