Glossary
Graphic Designer Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential graphic designer terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key graphic designer vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in graphic designer training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Bleed
- Artwork extending past trim edges.
- Brand guidelines
- Rules for using a brand.
- CMYK
- Color mode for print.
- Comp
- A comprehensive design draft.
- DPI
- Dots per inch, a print resolution.
- Grid
- A structure for layout.
- Hierarchy
- Order of visual importance.
- Kerning
- Spacing between letters.
- Mockup
- A realistic preview of a design.
- Pantone
- A standardized color system.
- Raster
- Graphics made of pixels.
- RGB
- Color mode for screens.
- Typography
- The art of arranging type.
- Vector
- Graphics made of scalable paths.
- White space
- Empty space that improves readability.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Graphic Designer practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Graphic Designer training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.