Design Glossary

| Prof Thomas Detrie | detrie@asu.edu | ^{Rev 05 Jun 2003} |

| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

A: ...
adjacency: The affect of surrounding areas on color vision. A given color area generally looks brighter if the surroundings are dark, and a given color looks more saturated if surrounded by complementary color. This contrast enhancement relates to the general importance of borders in perception. It is primarily the color area borders that signal the mind.
amplitude: The maximum absolute value reached by a waveform.
ANSI: Acronym for American National Standards Institute. A voluntary, nonprofit organization of US business and industry groups formed in 1918 for the development of trade and communication standards. ANSI is the American representative of the International Standards Organization (ISO).
anthropomorphism: n. 1. Attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena.
artifact: ...
ASCII: Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A code definition standard for information exchange between equipment produced by different manufacturers.
ASI: American Standards Association
axonometric: ...

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B: ...
binary: ...
bracket: ...

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C: ...
clinographic: ...
CMYK: Acronym for cyan-magenta-yellow-black. A color model that is similar to the CMY color model but produces black with a separate black component rather than by adding 100 percent of cyan, magenta, and yellow. Note: K stands for key plate, the black printing plate. See also CMY.
configuration: n. 1. a. Arrangement of parts or elements. b. The form, as of a figure, determined by the arrangement of its parts or elements. 2. Psychology Gestalt.
cognition: n. 1. The mental process or faculty of knowing, including aspects such as awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment. 2. That which becomes known, as through perception, reasoning, or intuition; knowledge.
coherence: n. 1. The quality or state of cohering, especially a logical, orderly, and aesthetically consistent relationship of parts.
code: ...
color constancy: The tendency to perceive inaccurate nature-specific and object-specific colors as true is color constancy. Some examples of these 'memory' colors are: eggshell white, fire-engine red, lemon yellow, and sky blue. Skin tones also come under color constancy. When a printed image is viewed individually the color looks correct, when we compare the accurate flesh tone to the inaccurate color then the color difference becomes evident. In addition to these other aspects, the eye is most sensitive to colors in the middle of the spectrum. Given equally intense colors, midspectrum colors such as green appear brighter than the endspectrum colors of red and blue.
color space: In an attempt to index colors in relation to one another it is common to rely upon a triaxial system. This section will address the various color spaces in common use today. We use the term 'space' because color data occur in three dimensions. Science and industry require precise color definition and classification. Words are imprecise to distinguish and describe color. For example, some of the few words that exclusively name colors are: white, black, gray, yellow, red, violet, blue, green, brown, and others. Many colors require compound names, quantifiers, and suffixes to differentiate colors. Examples are yellow-green, light green, greenish, and so forth.
combination: ...
commensurable: adj. 1. Measurable by a common standard. 2. Commensurate; proportionate. 3. Mathematics Exactly divisible by the same unit an integral number of times. Used of two quantities.
complex: adj. 1. a. Consisting of interconnected or interwoven parts; composite. b. Composed of two or more units. 2. Involved or intricate, as in structure; complicated.
n. 1. A whole composed of interconnected or interwoven parts: a complex of cities and suburbs; the military-industrial complex.
composition: ...
concatenate: ...
configuration: n. 1. a. Arrangement of parts or elements. b. The form, as of a figure, determined by the arrangement of its parts or elements. 2. Psychology Gestalt.
connotation: n. 1. The act or process of connoting. 2a. An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing. b. The set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning. 3. Logic The set of attributes constituting the meaning of a term; intension. adj. connotative.
n. 1. That which is signified by a word or expression: acceptation, denotation, import, intent, meaning, message, purport, sense, significance, significancy, signification, value. 2. Something, such as a feeling, thought, or idea, associated in one's mind or imagination with a specific person or thing: association, connection, suggestion.
Compare DENOTATION. In a widespread literary usage, the denotation of a word is its primary signification or reference; its connotation is the range of secondary of associated significations and feelings which it commonly suggests or implies. The connotation of a word is only a potential range of secondary significations; which part of these connations are evoked depends on the way the word is used in a particular context. [Abrams, 1999]
contextual: ...
contrast: v. tr. 1. To set in opposition in order to show or emphasize differences: an essay that contrasts city and country life; contrasted this computer with inferior models. v. intr. 1. To show differences when compared: siblings who contrast sharply in interests and abilities; a color that contrasted clearly with the dark background.
n. 1. a. The act of contrasting; a setting off of dissimilar entities or objects. b. The state of being contrasted: red berries standing in vivid contrast against the snow. 2. A difference, especially a strong dissimilarity, between entities or objects compared: the contrast between Northern and Southern speech patterns. 3. One thing that is strikingly dissimilar to another: My new school was a welcome contrast to the one before. 4. The use of opposing elements, such as colors, forms, or lines, in proximity to produce an intensified effect in a work of art. 5. The difference in brightness between the light and dark areas of a picture, such as a photograph or video image.
contrast sensitivity: ...
contrast, successive: ...
contrast, simultaneous: ...

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D: ...
delimitation: ...
denotation: n. 1. The act of denoting; indication. 2. Something, such as a sign or symbol, that denotes. 3. Something signified or referred to; a particular meaning of a symbol. 4. The most specific or direct meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings.
n. That which is signified by a word or expression: acceptation, connotation, import, intent, meaning, message, purport, sense, significance, significancy, signification, value.
Compare CONNOTATION. In a widespread literary usage, the denotation of a word is its primary signification or reference; its connotation is the range of secondary of associated significations and feelings which it commonly suggests or implies. The connotation of a word is only a potential range of secondary significations; which part of these connations are evoked depends on the way the word is used in a particular context. [Abrams, 1999]
dimetric: ...
dodecahedron, regular: 1. A polyhedron with twelve pentagonal faces.
duplex: adj. 1. Twofold; double. 2. Relating to or being a single assembly of machinery having two identical units that are capable of operating simultaneously or independently. 3. Electronics Of or relating to a communications mode, as in a telephone system, that provides simultaneous transmission and reception in both directions. Bidirectional.
n. Unit.
dynamic: adj. 1. a. Of or about energy or to objects in motion. b. Of or about the study of dynamics. 2. Characterized by continuous change, activity, or progress. 3. Marked by intensity and vigor; forceful. 4. Of or about variation of intensity, as in musical sound. n. 1. An interactive system or process, especially one involving competing or conflicting forces. 2. A force, especially political, social, or psychological.
Dynamic Symmetry: ...

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E: ...
enjambment: n. Prosody The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
equilibrium: ...
explicit: adj. 1a. Fully and clearly expressed; leaving nothing implied. b. Fully and clearly defined or formulated. 2. Forthright and unreserved in expression. 3. Readily observable.
extension: ...

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F: ...
form: ...
frequency: The property or condition of occurring at frequent intervals.
The number of times a specified phenomenon occurs within a specified interval, as: the number of complete cycles of a periodic process occurring per unit time; and, the number of repetitions per unit time of a complete waveform, as of an electric current.

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G: ...
geometry: The mathematics of the properties, measurement, and relationships of points, lines, angles, surfaces, and solids.
A system of geometry: Euclidean geometry.
A geometry restricted to a class of problems or objects: solid geometry.
geometry, analytic: The analysis of geometric structures and properties principally by algebraic operations on variables defined in terms of position coordinates.
geometry, plane: The geometry of planar figures.
geometry, solid: The branch of mathematics that deals with three-dimensional figures and surfaces.
geometry, vector: ...

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H: ...
haptic: Of or relating to the sense of touch; tactile.
hexahedron, regular: n. 1. A polyhedron, such as a cube, that has six faces. One of the five regular polyhedrons or Platonic solids.
hyperbola: A curve formed by a section of a cone, when the cutting plane makes a greater angle with the base than the side of the cone makes. It is a plane curve such that the difference of the distances from any point of it to two fixed points, called foci, is equal to a given distance. See Focus. If the cutting plane be produced so as to cut the opposite cone, another curve will be formed, which is also an hyperbola. Both curves are regarded as branches of the same hyperbola.

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I: ...
icosahedron, regular: 1. A polyhedron having twenty equilateral-triangular faces.
ideogram: ...
implicit: adj. 1. Implied or understood though not directly expressed. 2. Contained in the nature of something though not readily apparent. 3. Having no doubts or reservations; unquestioning: implicit trust.
1. Conveyed indirectly without words or speech: implied, inferred, tacit, understood, unsaid, unspoken, unuttered, wordless. Idioms: taken for granted. 2. Having no reservations: absolute, unconditional, undoubting, unfaltering, unhesitating, unquestioning, unreserved, wholehearted. 3. Involved in the essential nature of something but not shown or developed: practical, virtual.
instantiate: ...
interval: ...
irrational number: n. Mathematics 1. Any real number inexpressable as an integer or as a ratio between two integers.
ISO: ...
ISO|Latin|1: ...
iteration: ...

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J: ...
JPEG: 1. Acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group. An ISO/ITU standard for storing images in compressed form using a discrete cosine transform. JPEG trades compression off against loss; it can achieve a compression ratio of 100:1 with significant loss and possibly 20:1 with little noticeable loss. 2. A graphic stored as a file in the JPEG format.
juxtaposition: ...

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K: ...
Kelvin: ...

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L: ...
limitation: ...

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M: ...
mentation: n. 1. Mental activity; thinking.
metamer: ...
metaphor: n. 1. A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison. 2. One thing conceived as representing another.
modulate: To adjust or adapt to a certain proportion.
To vary the frequency, amplitude, phase, or other characteristic of waves).

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N: ...
nanometer
narrative: n. 1. A narrated account; a story. 2. The art, technique, or process of narrating.
adj. 1. Consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story: narrative poetry. 2. Of or relating to narration: narrative skill.
A narrative is a story, whether told in prose or verse, involving events, characters, and what the characters say and do. Some literary forms such as the novel and short story in prose, and the epic and romance in verse, are explicit narratives that are told by a narrator. In drama, the narrative is not told, but evolves by means of the direct presentation on stage of the actions and speeches of the characters. [Abrams, 1999]; ...
NTSC: Acronym for National Television System (later changed to Standards) Committee. The standards-setting body for television and video in the United States; sponsor of the NTSC standard for encoding color, a coding system compatible with black-and-white signals and the system used for color broadcasting in the United States.

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O: ...
octahedron: 1. A polyhedron with eight plane surfaces.
orthographic: Written or drawn at right angles.
oscillate: To vary between alternate extremes, usually within a definable period of time.

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P: ...
paleography
parabola: (a) A kind of curve; one of the conic sections formed by the intersection of the surface of a cone with a plane parallel to one of its sides. It is a curve, any point of which is equally distant from a fixed point, called the focus, and a fixed straight line, called the directrix. See Focus. (b) One of a group of curves defined by the equation y = ax^{n} where n is a positive whole number or a positive fraction. For the cubical parabola n = 3; for the semicubical parabola n = 3/2. See under Cubical, and Semicubical. The parabolas have infinite branches, but no rectilineal asymptotes.
penumbra: ...
perception: n. 1. The process, act, or faculty of perceiving. 2. The effect or product of perceiving. 3. Psychology a. Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based chiefly on memory. b. The neurological processes by which such recognition and interpretation are effected. 4. a. Insight, intuition, or knowledge gained by perceiving. b. The capacity for such insight.
permutation: ...
phonogram: ...
pictogram: ...
Platonic solids: n. pl. The five regular polyhedrons: tetrahedron, hexahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, icoshedron.
polyhedron, regular: n. 1. A solid bounded by regular polygons.
primary: ...
progression: ...
proportion: n. 1. A part considered in relation to the whole. 2. A relationship between things or parts of things with respect to comparative magnitude, quantity, or degree. 3. A relationship between quantities such that if one varies then another varies in a manner dependent on the first. 4. Agreeable or harmonious relation of parts within a whole.

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Q: ....
quantum: ...

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R: ...
random: ...
range: ...
ratio: n. 1. Relation in degree or number between two similar things. 2. The relative value of silver and gold in a currency system that is bimetallic. 3. Mathematics The relation between two quantities expressed as the quotient of one divided by the other: The ratio of 7 to 4 is written 7:4 or 7/4.
repurpose: ...

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S: ...
saturation: ...
secondary: ...
sequence: ...
series: ...
serif: ...
sign: ...
simplex: adj. 1. Consisting of or marked by only one part or element. 2. Of or relating to a telecommunications system in which only one message can be sent in either direction at one time. Elemental. Unidirectional.
subdivision: ...
symbol: ...
symmetry: n. 1. Exact correspondence of form and constituent configuration on opposite sides of a dividing line or plane or about a center or an axis. See note at proportion. 2. A relationship of characteristic correspondence, equivalence, or identity among constituents of an entity or between different entities. 3. Beauty as a result of balance or harmonious arrangement.
system: An assemblage of objects arranged in regular subordination, or after some distinct method, usually logical or scientific; a complete whole of objects related by some common law, principle, or end; a complete exhibition of essential principles or facts, arranged in a rational dependence or connection; a regular union of principles or parts forming one entire thing; as, a system of philosophy; a system of government; a system of divinity; a system of botany or chemistry; a military system; the solar system.

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T: ...
taxonomy: ...
tension: ...
tetrahedron, regular: n. A polyhedron with four faces.
tertiary: ...
trigonometry: The branch of mathematics that deals with the relationships between the sides and the angles of triangles and the calculations based on them, particularly the trigonometric functions.
trigonometry, spherical: The modified form of trigonometry applied to spherical triangles.
trimetric: ...
trope: n. 1. A figure of speech using words in nonliteral (figurative) sense. Metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche are among the most common tropes. [Colapietro, 1993]

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U: ...
undercolor removal: ...

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V: ...
vector: ...

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W: ...
wave: A disturbance in a medium which is a function of time and space or both.
wave length: The distance between corresponding points on adjacent waves.
weight: ...
width: ...

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X: ...

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Y: ...

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Z: ...

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| Prof Thomas Detrie | detrie@asu.edu |