Web Design Vocabulary


Channel Babineaux



Active white space – blank areas on a Web page that are placed on purpose

Alignment – means that the content of a page has the same alignment

Consistency – to have uniformity form page to page

Grid – a conceptual design tool that divides a page into rows and columns in order to help the Webmaster structure the layout of a page

Passive white space – the blank areas on a Web page that are a result of incomplete or mismatched shapes

Proximity – refers to how close one element is to another

Repetition – the process of repeating elements throughout a Web site


Print-base layout method- A layout that guides the eye starting from the top left corner of the page in a zigzagging pattern from left to right.

Screen-based layout method- A layout that guides the eye starting from the top left corner of the page in an effective sweeping motion. 


Analogous Colors - three colors on the color wheel that is side by side

Bit - the smallest unit of information that a computer understands

Color Wheel - an ordered progression of hues (or colors) that helps a designer easily understands & selects color combinations

Complementary Colors - colors that are located opposite from each other on the color wheel

Primary Hues - the additive color wheel are red, green, and blue (RGB)

Secondary Hues- Cyan, magenta, and yellow. 

Shade – darkening of a hue

Split-Complementary Colors – form an uneven triangle on the color wheel

Tertiary Hues – red-yellow (orange), green-yellow, green-cyan, blue-cyan, blue-magenta (violet), and red-magenta

Tint – the lightening of a hue

Triad Colors – three colors on the color wheel that has an equal amount of distance between each one

Typography – the act or art of expressing an idea by utilizing type faces or symbols

Value – the lightness or darkness of a hue

Warm Colors – hues that contain red

Wed safe colors- Colors that are consistent on all computer monitors- across all browers. 


Clip art- Ready made art that is available to use without having to edit it in any graphics applications.

Compression- Reduces the file size by compressing the information in the file.

File format- The arrangement in which data is saved in order to display itin a certain way.

GIF- (Graphic interchange format)- File format used for images.

Icon- Small symbolic graphic.

Index color- The colors that are available in a GIF file.

JPEG ( Joint ohtographic experts group) - File format used for images.

Raster- A raster graphic is an image that is made up of opixels. 

Vector- A vector image is based on a athematical formula.