The Language of Design: Lexicon and Vocabulary

California Institute of the Arts

Whether you are a seasoned designer or just starting out, having a solid understanding of these terms is crucial for effective communication and collaboration. In this article, I have compiled a comprehensive list of essential design vocabulary that every designer should know. Check it out and let me know what you think. Let’s level up our design language together!

Lexicon: Audience/Context/Culture

• audience: A reading, listening or viewing public (group of people). The group of people for whom a work of design is intended.
• context: The circumstances or setting in which something exists or happens that help us fully understand its meaning.
• visual language: A set of iconic elements of a style that have been extracted and used with deliberate reference to the ideas according to which the original style was created.
• cultural hierarchy: An outdated system in which economically or culturally elite “high” culture was ranked above everyday, mainstream “middle” or “low” culture. Today, these terms are primarily used to describe form or visual languages when analyzing the meaning of a work of design.
• agenda: The underlying intentions or motives of a person or group, such as the designer/studio or client.
• function: The intended purpose or application of a design work.

Lexicon: Basics of Form

• composition: the arrangement of visual elements so as to form a unified aesthetic whole*.
• hierarchy: the categorization of visual contrast in the elements of a piece of design, from greatest level of contrast to lowest level of contrast.
• visual contrast: the qualities of visual form that are unlike, different, or opposite. Differences in value are the way form creates distinctions between visual elements in a piece of design.
• value: the difference in intensity of one color compared to another.
• scale: the relative difference in size of visual elements.
• color: the appearance of objects or light sources described in terms of the individual’s perception of them, involving hue, lightness, and saturation*.
• line: a thin continuous mark. The weight of a line can be crucial in establishing visual contrast*.
• texture: a simulation or imitation through visual form of the sense of touch or other senses**.
• direction: the visual weight and concentration of a composition that creates stability or dynamism.
• movement: a visual quality, somewhat analogous to texture, that imitates or simulates movement in a static piece of design.
• legibility: the visual quality of text or image that makes it clearly readable and understandable. Sometimes referred to as readability.
• readability: The quality of text or images being clear enough to read and/or understand.
• sharpening: A strategy of increasing levels of visual contrast within a composition or design work. A sharpening approach to composition will make use of asymmetry, a strong axis or sense of direction, or objects feeling like they are in motion, floating or off-balance.
• leveling: involves decreasing levels of visual contrast to create a more harmonious, but still visually interesting composition. A leveling approach to composition will move towards greater stability and balance.
• figure/ground: describes the relationship between an object (figure) and the background behind it (ground). This relationship can also be described in terms of positive space (figure) and negative space (ground).
• sequence: a particular order in which events or things follow each other. This is a general term that includes different types of sequences, including narratives and stories.
• narrative: a type of sequence that presents a situation or series of events (a story) from a particular point of view or based on certain values.

*definition adapted from the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition, ** definition adapted from A Primer of Visual Literacy by Donis A. Dondis

Lexicon: Meaning and Concept

• denotation: the direct, obvious, primary meaning of a word, image, symbol or piece of design.
• connotation: the indirect or secondary meaning of a word, image, symbol or piece of design. The cultural or contextual meaning of a work of design.
• icon: a sign, image, or object that looks exactly like what it is supposed to represent.
• simile: use of a person, place, thing or concept that suggests similarity or likeness. one thing is like another thing.
• symbol: use of an object or image to represent an abstract idea.
• metaphor: functions much like a simile, except that metaphors uses substitution, one thing is another thing.
• theme: an organizing principle or idea of a work of design. Theme is often articulated using similes, symbols, and metaphor. Also referred to within this course as meaning or concept.
• cliche: an overused expression or idea.
• appropriation: the act of taking something without permission, not quite stealing since it should involve some kind of transformation of the original.
• pastiche: a piece of design that imitates the style of some previous design work.
• parody: a design that imitates the style of another work for comic effect (this can be positive or negative).
• satire: uses parody to specifically attack or expose human foolishness, stupidity or vice. Satire often uses irony and sarcasm.

Lexicon: Agenda and Authorship

• agenda: a motive or set of goals, the underlying intentions of a designer.
• authorship: the role designers have in shaping the form, concept, and audience of their work.