Weird Words of the Design World
- brittanybecker
- Jan 27
- 4 min read
When I first began classes on graphic design, I already knew some of the vocabulary: “spacing,” “cropping,” and “resolution” were all words I was either familiar with or was smart enough to logically figure it out.
But then there were other terms: “bleed,” “running header,” “gutter,” “widows and orphans,” and one word that has become indispensable in my design life, “kerning.” What the heck did all those words mean??
There are some pretty weird vocabulary words in the graphic design world, and I would like to introduce you to some of them!
Bleed
This scary word requires a brief explanation of print production. Printed pages are originally printed on a page, or “leaf,” that is larger than the intended page size. When printing is done, the pages are trimmed down with giant paper cutters. A Bleed is when images, graphics, or type runs off the edge of where the paper will be trimmed, i.e. “bleeds” off the edge. This gives the image a clean cut rather than a white border on the edge.
Gutter
No, not a metal trough on the edge of a roof. Gutter in the design world means the space down the middle of a book where the right and left pages meet each other at the spine. This space needs to be one of the biggest margins in a book; the curve of the pages causes any words or pictures too close to the gutter to be very difficult, if not impossible, to see. I call it the “Black Hole”; when a picture or word goes in there, it pretty much disappears forever.
Running Headers/Running Feet
Whenever I hear these terms, all my silly brain can picture is a race of individual heads or feet, bouncing or hopping their way across the finish line. Clearly, that’s not what these are. Running Headers are along the top of a book page, while Running Feet (or Footers) are along the bottom. Both are reference points for the reader; they can include the title of a book, page numbers, the author, the chapter, or the section.Where each of the points is location, or even if they are used at all, varies from book to book. Every book should have page numbers, but they can be in either the header or footer; chapter books will often have the author’s name in the left header and the book title in the right header, but not always! Regardless, headers and footers are a very useful part of book design.
Widow, Orphan, Runt
What sad words! These terms are often confused with each other, so I have combined them into one description. Widows, Orphans, and Runts are typographic terms for words or sentences that are on their own in a block of type. They often cause an imbalanced look or sometimes cause the eye to “stumble” as it reads.
- A Widow is the final line that is bumped to a separate page than the rest of its paragraph. You see these at the top of a page.
- An Orphan is the first line in a paragraph, but the rest of its paragraph is moved to the next page. You see these at the bottom of a page.
- A Runt is a single word at the end of a paragraph or sometimes at the top of a page. They can also be called “widows” or “orphans” as well, so double-check what your client means if they talk about “widows” or “orphans!”
None of these terms are necessarily problems, they just make the body copy look unbalanced or bumpy. Kerning, leading, and occasionally editing the text can help remove these.
Hex Codes
I first heard the word “hex” in association with witches casting spells, so this term caught me off guard the first time I heard it. Hex Codes are six-digit strings of numbers that are used to help computers represent specific colors. They use 16 symbols (the numbers 0-9 and the letters A-F) in over 16 MILLION code combinations! Hex codes are used primarily for digital graphics, not so much print graphics.
Kerning
This is one of my favorite words, both for the fact that it is so unique, and also because I kern almost every day at my job. Kerning is the adjustment of space between individual typed letters. It is used to help give typed words a better balance and proportion. Kerning that is too tight or too spread apart makes words harder to read, so learning the right balance of kerning is an important skill for any designer. Tracking is very very similar to kerning, except that it is the overall spacing of a word instead of each individual letter.
Leading
“Leading” like pencil lead, not “leading” like leading a group around. Leading is the space between individual lines of type. Back when old-fashioned printing presses where used, strips of literal lead were placed between the lines of type to evenly space them out for printing. Like kerning, leading that is too tight or too spread apart can also cause reading issues, so it is another good design skill to learn.
I hope you have learned some new terms to impress your friends with! Now that you know what they are, keep an eye out for them in your reading or browsing; they will probably show up more often than you think.
All the best!
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