Let’s say you hired us to design something for you. As we begine our working relationship, you discover that we speak a language all on our own. In an effort to clear the fog, we offer the list of the most commonly used terms to help you become more fluent in “Inventive Identity Lingo.”
The default name of the Apache directory-level configuration file. The .htaccess file configures the current directory with things like password-protection, URL rewrites, and so on.
A
Adobe Acrobat:
Applications to create and view PDF files.
Adobe Illustrator file format (.AI files):
AI files was developed by Adobe Systems for Windows and Macintosh platforms.
Adobe Photo file format (PSD.files):
PSD files are the native bitmap file format for Adobe Photoshop.
AJAX:
Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. A way of developing Web applications
Alignment:
The aligned position of type or art material on a horizontal or vertical line.
Anchor Point:
The point that remains unmoved when you stretch, scale, mirror, or skew an object. Anchor points communicate to the eight handles that display when an object is selected.
Animated Gif:
The Graphic Interchange Format (.gif files), developed by CompuServe which is a bitmap-based format designed for use on the World Wide Web.
Arrow keys:
Direction keys that move or “nudge” selected objects in small increments.
Artwork:
Any material or image that is created for graphic reproduction.
Artwork:
All illustrated material, ornamentation, photos and charts, etc. that is prepared for reproduction.
Aspect Ratio:
The ratio of the width of an image to its height.
B
Back-end:
Refers to the database management system (DBMS), which is the storehouse for the data of you Website.
Background:
The portion of a photograph or line art drawing that appears farthest from the eye; the surface where the main artwork is displayed.
Backlink:
A link coming from another website to your own.
Bandwidth:
The amount of data that is requested from your website over time. Bandwidth is expressed in terms of kilobits per second (Kbps).
Banner:
The title or name of a periodical such as a newspaper or magazine, which is seen on the cover and on the first page. It displays the name of the publication, serial information such as the date, volume, and number.
BBM:
A proprietary Internet-based instant messenger application included on BlackBerry devices that allows messaging between BlackBerry users. We use this regularly to communicate with each other.
Bevels:
Bevels are another way in which you can give an object a three-dimensional appearance. A bevel creates the illusion that an object’s extruded edges are cut at an angle.
Bitmapped Image:
An image composed of grids of pixels or dots.
BlackBerry:
A line of smartphone devices developed and designed by Research In Motion (RIM). We are proud to say that we are a BlackBerry user.
Block quote:
A long quotation. Normally these four or more lines are set apart to ensure order to distinguish visibly the author’s written words from what the author is quoting.
Blog:
Web page that has short, frequent updates made to it. Similar to a Web journal or “what’s new” page.
BMP:
The Windows bitmap file format (.bmp files) was developed as a standard for representing graphic images as bitmapped images.
Body:
The main portion of the letter character not counting the ascenders and descender.
Brand:
The perceived emotional corporate image as a whole.
Breadcrumb:
Breadcrumb or breadcrumb trail is the part of the navigation that shows you where you are. often found near the top of Web pages and define both the current location within the site hierarchy as well as primary pages above the current page.
Brochure:
A pamphlet that is bound in booklet form.
Browser:
Computer program to view and interact with Internet Web pages.
Business Card:
Cards bearing business information about a company or individual.
C
Cache:
A component that transparently stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster.
CSS:
Cascading Style Sheets. A style sheet language used for describing the presentation semantics (the look and formatting) of a document written in a markup language.
Centered:
Text placed at an equal distance from the left and right margins.
Character:
Any letter, number, punctuation, symbol, or space.
Clip Art:
Artwork that is already created which is for sell or made for distribution for clipping and pasting into publications. Clip art is available in a various forms such as downloadable, CD, disk, electronic form, and hard copy books.
CMYK:
Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-blacK. A subtractive color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself.
Concept:
An idea of designs we submit based on your design requirements.
Content:
A word you’ll likely see around a lot is “web content” and by definition, content is the ‘stuff’ that makes up a web site. This could be words, pictures, images or sounds.
CDN:
Content Delivery Network. A system of computers on the Internet that delivers content transparently to end users.
CMS:
Content Management System. A tool for managing content, usually on a Web site, that separates the design, interactivity, and content from one another to make it easier for content authors to provide content.
Crop marks:
On mechanical, horizontal and vertical lines which show the edge of the printed material.
Cropping:
For artwork, cutting out the extraneous parts of an image normally related with a photograph.
D
Database:
An organized collection of data, today typically in digital form.
Directory:
A file system structure in which to store computer files.
Domain:
The name by which a computer is identified. It is mapped to a number called an IP address.
DNS:
Domain Name Service. The TCP/IP stack that converts IP addresses into domain names.
Dynamic Page:
Web sites that are generated at the time of access by a user or change as a result of interaction with the user.
E
Element:
An XML element is the central building block of any XML document.
Entry Page:
Web page where readers arrive at your site from some other domain. These are the pages where people are linking to or search engines have ranked highly on your site.
Exit Page:
Web page that readers leave your Web site from.
External Link:
A hyperlink that points to another website on the internet, typically on another domain from the current website.
F
Favicon:
Favorites Icon is a small graphic that is associated with a page or Web site. The favicon allows the Web developer to customize the site in the Web browser, both in the tab bar that is displayed in many browsers as well as in the bookmarks when a site is saved.
File Extension:
A suffix (separated from the base filename by a dot) to the name of a computer file applied to indicate the encoding (file format) of its contents or usage. Examples of filename extensions are .png, .exe, .dmg and .txt.
FTP:
File Transfer Protocol. One of the common methods of transferring files over the Internet. A typical method used for uploading files (pages) to a hosting server for viewing on the Internet.
Flyers:
A form of paper advertisement intended for wide distribution and typically posted or distributed in a public place.
Frames:
An HTML technique for combining two or more separate HTML documents within a single web browser screen. A web site using frames often causes great problems for search engines, and may not be spidered and indexed correctly.
Front-end:
Refers to the webpage that your visitor see in your website.
H
Hits:
A request for a file from a Web server. This includes every stylesheet, javascript file, and image on a Web page.
Hosting:
Refers to a computer (or a network of servers) that stores the files of a web site which has web server software running on it, connected to the Internet. Your site is then said to be Hosted.
Hover:
Mouse Hover. Triggers an event when a user places a mouse over a designated area, such as a hyperlink on a Web page.
HTML:
The language used to write Web pages.
HTTPS:
Stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol over SSL (Secure Socket Layer). It is a TCP/IP protocol used by Web servers to transfer and display Web content securely. The data transferred is encrypted so that it cannot be read by anyone except the recipient.
Hue:
It is what we generally think of when we describe colors – red, green, and blue are all hues.
HTTP:
Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The set of rules used to exchange information on the Web. When seen as part of a URL, it tells the user-agent what protocol to use to gather the data for display/use.
I
Icon:
A pictogram displayed on a computer screen and used to navigate a computer system or mobile device.
Identity:
The visual aspects that form part of the overall brand.
Image Map:
A list of coordinates relating to a specific image, created in order to hyperlink areas of the image to various destinations (as opposed to a normal image link, in which the entire area of the image links to a single destination).
Inbound Link:
An internal link is a link on a web page that links to another page on the same site or domain.
IP:
Internet Protocol. It is a packet-based protocol for delivering data across networks, specifically the Internet.
IP Address:
The numerical designation of a computer attached to the Internet. They are usually written as 4 groups of 3 numbers (IPv4). Domain names use IP addresses as their address so that Web browsers can find their location on the Internet.
Italic:
Any slanted or right leaning letter designed to go with or to be compatible with a companion roman typeface.
J
JavaScript:
A prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions.
JPEG:
A lossy graphics format best suited for photographs and images with a lot of colors. It’s an acronym that stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group.
L
Landscape (orientation):
A page or layout board that is wider than it is high.
Link:
Links are often the first thing that most developers want to learn. Links are what allow your readers to move around the Web.
Logo:
A logo identifies a business in its simplest form via the use of a mark or icon.
Logotype:
This is a symbol, mark, or identifying name
Lorem Ipsum:
Placeholder text or “lorem ipsum” is dummy text used by designers in preliminary designs to highlight the design, colors, and layout of a page.
M
Markup:
The characters and codes that change a text document into an XML or other Markup Language document. This includes the < and > characters as well as the elements and attributes of a document.
Marquee:
In HTML, a marquee is a small section of the browser window that displays text that rolls across the screen. This tag works only in Internet Explorer.
Masthead:
Credit box at the top of the publication name that records the sponsors, editors, writers, designers, illustrators, photographers and others, including the publication office address, subscription and advertising information.
Menu:
The characters and codes that change a text document into an XML or other Markup Language document. This includes the < and > characters as well as the elements and attributes of a document.
Meta Tags:
A meta tag is a specific HTML tag used to define meta data on your Web pages.
Milestone:
A special event that receives special attention. It is often falsely put at the end of a stage to mark the completion of a work package or phase.
Mockup:
A prototype if it provides at least part of the functionality of a system and enables testing of a design.
O
Outbound Link:
A hyperlink that points to another website on the internet, typically on another domain from the current website.
P
PHP:
A general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for Web development to produce dynamic Web pages.
Pixel:
Dots on a computer monitor. The resolution on a computer monitor is measured in dots per inch or pixels per inch.
Pixel (picture element):
The smallest unit that a device can address. It usually refers to display monitors.
Plugin:
A set of software components that adds specific abilities to a larger software application.
Poster:
A piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface.
Process:
A series of steps or guideline we follow for each project we do.
Project:
A specific task that the Client paid us to do such us Website Design, Logo Design, Print Design etc.
Q
Quote:
A formal statement of promise submitted by us to suplly the services required by the client, at specified prices, and with a specified period.
R
RAR:
A program that we use to proprietary archive file format that supports data compression, error recovery, and file spanning. This is same as WinRar but we prefer RAR more.
Resolution:
This refers to the crispness of feature or distinction of grain in an image.
Responsive:
Indicates that a web site is crafted to adapt the layout to the viewing environment such as Desktop monitor, laptop monitor, tablet and other mobile devices.
RGB:
RGB is an abbreviation for “Red Green Blue”. RGB is a color model used on displays where red, green, and blue light are combined to make millions of colors.
RSS:
Really Simple Syndication. A type of XML that allows Web content producers to provide content from their website for publication on other websites.
S
Script:
A small bit of code that enables web browsers to do something rather than just displaying static results. Scripts are used in web design to create dynamic pages and DHTML.
Server:
Refers to either the hardware (the computer) or the software (the computer application) that helps to deliver Web content that can be accessed through the Internet.
Sidebar:
A form of auxiliary menu which can be found at the edge of a web page
Signage:
Any kind of visual graphics created to display information to a particular audience.
Spider:
A program that automatically fetches Web pages. Spiders are used to feed pages to search engines. It’s called a spider because it crawls over the Web.
Static Page:
A web page that is delivered to the user exactly as stored, in contrast to dynamic web pages which are generated by a web application.
Style Sheet:
Are used on Web pages to define the design and layout of the page – the style of the page.
Sub-domain:
A more specific portion of a domain name. Subdomains are used to divide up Web domains without registering a new domain name.
T
Tags:
The markup characters that indicate the start or end of an element – but not the element content itself.
Template:
In page design, it is a file with an associated style sheet, all standing and serial elements in place on a master or base page.
Theme:
In page design, it is a file with an associated style sheet, all standing and serial elements in place on a master or base page.
Thumbnail:
These are tiny pictures sketched as first design ideas like thinking on paper or on the screen.
TIFF:
Tagged Image File Format. This is for digital gray-scale halftones and is a device-independent graphics file format. TIFF files can be used on IBM/compatible or Macintosh computers and may be output to PostScript printers.
Traffic:
The amount of data sent and received by visitors to a web site.
Typography:
The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters.
U
URL:
Uniform Resource Locator. It is the address of a document or other resource on the Internet. RFC 1738.
V
VPS:
Virtual Private Server. A term used by Internet hosting services to refer to a virtual machine.
W
W3C:
W3C is an acronym standing for the World Wide Web Consortium. This is the group that determines the standards for the technology behind the Web.
WAMP:
WAMP is an acronym that stands for Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (or Perl or Python). We use WAMP for the first phase in developing your website. It is a Web development platform that defines the Operating System (Windows), Web Server (Apache), database (MySQL), and scripting language (PHP, Perl, or Python).
Window:
In a page layout, it is the short last lines of paragraphs that are usually undesirable when separated from the rest of the paragraph by a column break and always intolerable when separated by a page break.
Wire Frame:
A wireframe is a visual representation of a website. It allows designers and developers to present proposed functions, graphic elements, structure, and content of a website with simple line drawings.
Word wrap:
In a word processor or text editor, it is the automatic dropping of characters to the next line when the right hand margin is reached.
WordPress:
A free and open source blogging tool and a dynamic content management system (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL.
WYSIWYG:
What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get. This is an interactive mode of computer processing in which there is an actual screen representation of the printed output. WYSIWYG is never completely accurate because of the difference in resolution between display screens and printers.
