User:IsadoraofIbiza/Artist glossary

Terms (many of which I coined) regarding common artistic motifs.

Activist font Condensed grotesque sans serif fonts popular with activist flicks and posters. Often only the capitals are used. See Activist fist. Example—

Activist fist Cliché use of a raised fist to represent action. See Handshake loop

Airport font Frutiger.

Bank gothic Square capital font used to convey a sense of futurism or drama.

Because capitals Putting text in all capitals for no reason. See Caps lock and because lowercase

Because gloss Applying the glossy effect to something for no reason but to make it glossy. Example—

Because gradients Shading something for no reason but to shade it.

because lowercase rejection of all capital letters. see Caps lock

Because outline Outlining something for no apparent reason except to add an outline.

Because round Branch of Flat design that gives rounded corners to rectangular objects.

Because 3D Making an something three dimensional to make it three dimensional. Related to Skeuomorphism and coin icons. This is also common in movie titles and logos, where text is extruded and tilted slightly to show "three dimensionalness".

CAPS LOCK Text set in all-capitals for emphasis. See Because capitals and lowercase

Comic sans An inappropriate font choice.

Coin icon A type of icon tilt involving a circular icon.

Flat design Response to skeuomorphism. A type of minimalism that rejects gradients, gloss, and sometimes, borders and shadows.

Flat shadow A non-blurred, dark silhouette of a flat design element that serves as a shadow.

Greeble Extra stuff added to make something look complex. Examples include random line designs on sci-fi starships and the extensive radial designs on futuristic user interfaces.

Handshake loop Cliché use of a handshake to represent commercial agreement. See Activist fist

Icon tilt Tilting an icon to make it look "three dimensional".

Linearitis Failure to employ curves rather than linear gradients and motion curves. Not to be confused with Because round or Stay sharp

Overshoot Common in motion design, where an object is introduced by growing out of nothing, and then shrinking down slightly to its intended size.

Shadow oval Putting a elliptical shadow under something. Example—

Skeuomorphism Rendering elements like their real-world counterparts. Examples include embossed text and just about any "realistic" three-dimensional icon.

Small caps Use of small capital letters instead of miniscules. Not to be confused with Caps lock.

Staying sharp Branch of Flat design that does not give rounded corners to rectangular objects.

Strategic ambiguity Reducing something to avoid giving a misleading impression. Examples include "blob continents" on globe representations to avoid national association, and faceless or silhouetted person icons.

Toon shadow Similar to Flat shadow, except used as shading, overlaid on an object. Characterized by lack of gradients or blurring.

Word-in-a-circle Representing something with its name, surrounded by a circle to integrate it into a visual representation.