1. Contrast

Although the importance of contrast is fairly well known among designers, the addition of extra contrast continues to be overlooked and under-used in many design projects around the world. Thin, high-contrast lines can be an excellent tool to help viewers easily identify the different sections of a page. This technique does not need to standout in the design. A single, lightly-coloured, 1-pixel line can be placed next to a dark, 1-pixel line will do the trick!

Professional designers also use stark contrasts in colour to make certain elements stand out. For example, with a serene blue and grey colour scheme, a link filled with a carefully-selected red tone will draw attention to that link without hindering the overall appeal of the design.

2. Kerning

Kerning refers to the distance between letters in a design. This technique can greatly impact the effectiveness of logos, headlines, paragraphs and any other text-based element. Most designs do not require extravagant text features and techniques. However, many professional designers use alterations in kerning to match the purpose of their designs. For example, less letter spacing can make short statements seem more powerful and concise.

While kerning may not seem like an important step to great design, poor letter spacing can mean the difference between and effective piece and a complete failure. When first learning to make kerning alterations, most designers are surprised by the huge difference it makes.

3. UPPERCASE vs. lowercase

Since the changing of case is such a simple step, many designers overlook the potential advantage of careful case use. The use of all uppercase with an element not only provides an excellent tool for grabbing viewer attention, but it also allows the designer to maintain legibility in very small buttons or other applications. This technique should only be used on the most important elements of the design, since the impact of all uppercase text decreases every time it is used.

4. Gradients

Due to recent advancements in technology, the ability to create gradients is available to almost anyone. However, this technique can cause an array of design problems when used improperly. Moderation, subtlety and focus are all keys to the successful use of gradients. In most cases, complex gradients should only be used on a few select elements that need to grab the attention of the viewer. Any other elements should feature very subtle gradients if any.

While an experienced designer can find adventurous ways to utilise different gradients throughout a design, the resulting lack of consistency often hinders the overall appeal.

Although these four techniques represent just a few of the many simple ways to improve a design, learning how to use them effectively can make a huge difference on the effectiveness of the final project.

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These days everyone uses words like “font” and “thumbnail” all the time, but have you ever wondered where we got these words in the first place? Who chose to use the words “cut, copy and paste” for manipulating text? Believe it or not, all these desktop publishing terms have a story about their origins.

Font

The term “font” was traditionally spelled “fount” in British English. It is derived from the ancient French term “fonte” which means “something that has been melted, or a casting.” It refers to the original process of metal casting used to create metal type. Each character in metal type used a metal casting.

In traditional printing, a “font” described a complete set of metal type to be used on an entire page. This set would represent a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Throughout hundreds of years and huge technological advancement, the term has remained popular. It now refers to a set of digital characters.

Cut, Copy and Paste

The term “cut, copy and paste” originates from a traditional editing process. Editors would use scissors to cut paragraphs or sentences from one page and literally glue them to another page. Until the 1980s, this traditional practice was the standard in publishing. Retail stores even sold special “editing scissors” for this specific practice. The arrival of photocopiers eventually streamlined the cut, copy and paste process.

The task of transferring text from one computer-based document to another was one of the first challenges for computer developers and editors. Microsoft eventually popularised the term with its operating system for personal computers.

Thumbnail

While it’s fairly easy to guess where the term “thumbnail” comes from, its reference to the human thumbnail is more complex than you might imagine. The term alludes to the size of an image or design element, but modern thumbnail documents aren’t necessarily the same size as your thumbnail. Due to the variety of resolution sizes, the term has become much more relative.

Although the word was first used during the 17th century, no one used it to refer to a drawing or design until the 19th century. At that time, it commonly described the size of anything concise. Biographical essays were even described as thumbnails. The modern context for the thumbnail in publishing appeared in the 1980s and has evidently grown in popularity since.

Clip Art

Much like “cut, copy and paste,” the term “clip art” originated from a traditional publishing and editing process. It refers to the practice of literally cutting images from previously printed works for recycled use. Before desktop publishing, clip art was most commonly utilised in a traditional printing practice called “paste up.” In this process, clip art was cut by hand and then attached to a scaled board for the addition of text and other art. A photographer took a picture of the final board before publishing.

It is easy to go through your typical day using all of these terms without really thinking about it; however, the origins of terms like these can be quite interesting. Understanding their origins adds another perspective as you go about your work. It’s always good to know the history of terms you use on such a common basis – undoubtedly many more also have a deeper story behind them.

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