Precision Exam - Graphic Arts 🖌️🎨

Includes typography, color theory, and printing/digital colors. (NO Measurement Practice w/ Rulers)

Typeface

A family of characters (letters, numbers, symbols) that share a consistent design style.

Font

A specific style, weight, and size of a typeface. Fonts are variations within a typeface family.

Serif

The small decorative strokes or lines at the ends of characters in a typeface.

Sans-Serif

A typeface without serifs, known for its clean and modern appearance.

Kerning

Adjusting the space between individual characters to improve visual harmony.

Leading

The vertical space between lines of text, measured from baseline to baseline. Also known as line spacing.

Tracking

Adjusting the overall (equal) spacing between characters in a block of text.

Baseline

An invisible line on which characters appear to rest.

X-Height

The height of lowercase letters, typically measured from the baseline to the top of lowercase x.

Cap Height

The height of uppercase letters, typically measured from the baseline to the top of uppercase letters like H or T.

Ascender

The part of a lowercase letter that extends above the x-height, like the top of a lowercase d or h.

Descender

The part of a lowercase letter that extends below the baseline, like the tail of a lowercase p or q.

Alignment

The horizontal positioning of text, such as left-aligned, centered, right-aligned, or justified.

Hierarchy

The arrangement of text based on importance, often achieved by varying font, size, weight, and style.

Contrast

The variation in attributes like size, weight, and style to create visual interest and emphasis.

Type Scale

A system of choosing font sizes that create harmonious proportions among various elements.

Point (pt)

A unit of measurement commonly used for font size. 1 point is equal to 1/72 of an inch.

Baseline Grid

A series of horizontal lines that guide the placement of type and other elements in a design.

Typography

The art and technique of arranging type to make written language readable and visually appealing.

Hue

The pure, distinct color of an object, often referred to by its name (e.g., red, blue, green).

Saturation

Also known as intensity or chroma, it refers to the purity of vividness of a color. High ________ colors appear vibrant, while de_______ colors are muted.

Value

The lightness or darkness of a color. Colors can range from light (high value) to dark (low value).

CMYK

Stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (key). Used for printing purposes.

RGB

Stands for red, green, blue. Used for digital purposes.

Primary Colors

Red, yellow, blue.

Secondary Colors

Created by mixing two primary colors: green (blue + yellow), orange (red + yellow), and purple (blue + red).

Tertiary Colors

Created by mixing a primary color with a neighboring secondary color: red-orange, blue-green, and red-purple.

Hexadecimal (Hex) Colors

Colors are often represented using hexadecimal codes, which are a combination of six numbers and/or letters: #B93016, #FF0000, etc.

Tint

High value: hue + white.

Tone

Middle value: hue + gray.

Shade

Low value: hue + black.

Analogous Colors

Colors that are adjacent (or next to) each other on the color wheel.

Complementary Colors

Select colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel.

Triadic Colors

Colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel, visually creates a triangle on the color wheel.

Warm Colors

Reds, oranges, and yellows.

Cool Colors

Greens, blues, and purples.

Monochromatic Colors

Color scheme that uses variations of a single hue, including tints, shades, and tones.

Arm/Leg

An upper or lowercase stroke that is attached on one end and free on the other.

Bar

Horizontal stroke in characters such as A, H, R, e, and f.

Bowl

A curved stroke which creates an enclosed space within a character (the space is then called a counter).

Counter

The partially or fully enclosed space within a character.

Ear

The small stroke that projects from the top of a lowercase g.

Link

The stroke that connects the top and bottom part (bowl and loop) of a two-story lowercase g.

Loop

The lower portion of the lowercase g.

Shoulder

The curved stroke of the h, m, and n.

Spine

The main curved stroke of the S.

Stem

A straight vertical stroke.

Stroke

A straight or curved line.

Swash

A fancy flourish replacing a terminal or serif.

Tail

The descender of a Q or short diagonal stroke of an R.

Terminal

The end of a stroke not terminated with a serif.

Spur

A small projection that veers of f the main stroke on many capital G’s.

Display

Large sizes for titles, headings, pull quotes, and other eye-catching elements, rather than for extended passages of body text.

Script

Based on the varied and often fluid stroke created by handwriting.