A-Z of brand and creative terms

Glossary

Sometimes you may find yourself speaking to creative professionals such as designers, videographers, photographers and commercial printers so we've put together this glossary to help demystify some of the terms used.

If you have a word you think should be added to the glossary let us know via this feedback form (Click link)

A

Adobe Illustrator file. Ai is a vector file format. Adobe Illustrator is required to open this file type.

Alignment

The lining up of elements to achieve balance, order, and a more logical layout.

Aspect Ratio

B

Body copy

The main part of text in your design or publication – the written content

Brand

The overall perception or reputation of a company in the minds of its audience. It represents what people think, feel, or associate with a particular company or product.

Brand identity

The collection of visual and non-visual elements created by an organisation to represent their brand such as logo, colours, typography, tagline, messaging. These elements are essential for people to recognize and distinguish the organization or product from others.

Brandmarks

A logo that is conveyed exclusively by a symbol or some kind of imagery.

B-Roll

Additional footage that is shot and edited to support the main story being told.

C

Colour correction

The process of adjusting and enhancing the colours to correct inconsistencies of an image or video to achieve a desired appearance.

Contrast

The amount of difference between two opposite elements. Example – dark vs light, thick vs thin

D

Device

E

Eps

For print

F

Font

A specific typeface of a certain size and style. Example –

G

Gif

Gradient

A gradual change in colour from one tone to another.

H

Hex code

Hierarchy

It is the visual arrangement of design elements in a way that signifies importance.

I

Icon

J

Jpeg

For screen/digital. These are usually a smaller file size than a PNG and most often used for websites and online platforms because they take up less storage and load faster. They cannot be scaled without becoming fuzzy.

L

Legibility

The measure of how easy it is to distinguish one letter from the next.

Logo

Logotype

A logo that uses only the brand’s name. Example – Google

P

Palette

The selection of colours that you choose to use in your design.

Pdf

For print. Can be used for both print and screen

Png

For screen/digital. These are high resolution raster images. They can be both opaque and transparent. They cannot be scaled without becoming fuzzy.

Psd

Are files saved directly from Photoshop. Can be imported into other Adobe software for print or animation. Can’t access PSD files without being an Adobe user.

Pull quote

A short quote or excerpt pulled from the main text and used as a visual element.

R

Raster

Files made of small pixels which lose quality when scaled up. Example - png files and jpeg files.

Raw footage

The unedited video or audio recordings captured during a shoot. It is the original footage captured by a camera or recording device before any adjustments or edits are made.

Resolution

The amount of detail an image has. The higher the resolution, the better the image will appear, and the more detail is rendered.

S

Saturation

The degree of intensity and vividness of a colour.

Storyboard

A visual outline used to plan a story for movies, TV shows or ads. It shows scene order, camera angles, dialogue, and actions.

Svg

For screen/digital. These are vector images used exclusively for websites. They can be scaled while maintaining their high quality and details due to being vectors. Scalable without losing detail.

T

Tiff

For print. Most often used for photography rather than designed images. These files retain detail and quality when compressed.

Typeface

A set of one or more fonts that are put into a single category. Example –

Typography

The style or appearance of text.

V

Vector

Files that can be scaled without losing any quality. Example - eps files and pdf files.

Z

Zip

A common file format that’s used to compress one or more files together into a single location. This reduces file size and makes it easier to transport or store. A recipient can unzip (or extract) a ZIP file after transport and use the file in the original format.