Why I grabbed it in the first place
I make flyers and logos for small groups. Church bake sales. A fall 5K. My cousin’s taco truck. Recently I even mocked up a tasteful, low-key invitation for an adults-only social mixer in La Mesa—if you’re curious about how that scene works, check out this local guide to La Mesa swingers which breaks down venues, etiquette, and upcoming events you can design for or attend.
Way before this glossary test, I’d survived a long stretch doing unseen, white-label graphic design, and the jargon haze was real.
I kept bumping into words like kerning and bleed and wondering, “Why does this even matter?” So I used the Canva Design School Glossary for a week while I worked on real stuff. I kept it open on my second monitor, like a buddy who knows the lingo.
For extra inspiration, I kept a tab open to the tutorials over at Moon and Back Graphics, which turns those same terms into quick, visual walk-throughs.
Honestly, I thought it’d be dry. It wasn’t. It felt like a pocket map. The way it oriented me was similar to how good wayfinding works in environmental graphic design—clear signposts keep you moving. And yes, I got lost a few times. That’s normal.
If you want the play-by-play, I captured the entire week in this deep-dive.
The quick wins that made me smile
- I fixed weird spacing in a headline. Those big “WA” gaps? That’s kerning. I nudged it tighter, and boom—the title looked expensive.
- I stopped getting thin white edges on prints. The glossary said add 0.125 inch bleed. I did. No more wonky borders on the fall festival poster.
- I picked the right colors for print. It said use CMYK, not RGB, for paper. I re-exported at 300 DPI, and the pumpkin orange looked rich, not dull.
You know what? Small changes stacked up fast, almost like the pieces in dynamic graphic design that shift but stay coherent.
Terms that finally clicked for me (with real moments)
- Kerning: Space between two letters. I fixed “A V A” in a logo for “AVA Salon.” Those angles can look too far apart. Tightened it, and it felt chic.
- Tracking: Space across a whole word. I widened tracking for a long list of sponsors so it didn’t feel crowded.
- Leading (line spacing): I had a paragraph under a photo of apple pies. It was tight and hard to read. I bumped the leading a little, and people stopped squinting.
- Bleed and Safe Area: For the 5K bib design, I kept numbers and logos inside the safe area. Nothing got cut when it was trimmed. Felt like magic.
- Raster vs Vector: The taco truck logo needed to stretch across a banner. I used the vector version (SVG). Crisp edges, no blur. The raster JPEG looked fuzzy at 8 feet wide.
- DPI/PPI: The bake sale flyer for print? 300 DPI. The Instagram version? 1080 by 1350 pixels at 72 PPI. The glossary spelled it out so clean, even my tired brain got it.
- Hierarchy: I made the price big, the details smaller. People read what I wanted first. That’s control without yelling.
- Negative Space: The coffee shop menu had a lot of items. I let it breathe. More margins, fewer lines. It looked calm—like a fancy café, not a diner placemat. The trick echoed lessons from when I used dead space on real projects and saw what soared and what tanked, plus the restraint I discovered while falling for modernist graphic design.
- Complementary Colors: Blue headline, warm orange callout. It popped but didn’t scream. I did try red and green once. It felt like Christmas. Not good for spring.
A day it saved my bacon
I sent a poster to print without checking the color mode. It came back flat. Like someone sat on it. I checked the glossary, switched to CMYK, set bleed to 0.125 inch, and chose coated paper in the notes. The reprint? Sharp text, better color depth, no white edges. I could smell the ink and felt weirdly proud. Kind of silly, but true.
Little things I liked (and a couple I didn’t)
- Clear, plain words, but not childish. It didn’t talk down to me.
- Short examples. I used them right away in Adobe Illustrator and Canva.
- Some terms were missing deeper stuff. Like Gestalt rules—proximity and closure were there, but I wanted more pictures and quick tests (I found extra context in this graphic design terms guide on Coursera).
- I wish the glossary had cheat cards I could print. I made my own with five must-know terms. Taped them by my monitor.
Stuff I started saying at work (and yes, it felt fancy)
- “Let’s increase tracking on the tagline by 15.”
- “This needs a 3mm bleed all around.”
- “Use the vector logo. The PNG is breaking.”
- “Bump the leading. The body text feels cramped.”
- “Switch to CMYK before export. And 300 DPI for the printer.”
It’s simple. But it makes you sound like you know what you’re doing. Because now you do.
Handy rules I keep now
- Print: CMYK + 300 DPI + 0.125 inch bleed.
- Web: RGB + pixels (design at final size).
- Text: Big headline, comfy leading, smart hierarchy.
- Photos: Don’t stretch tiny images. Use bigger or vector.
- Colors: Pick a scheme—complementary, analogous, or triadic—and stick with it.
Following these baselines stitches the page together and nails the unity in graphic design that readers feel even if they can’t name.
A tiny detour: fonts, because they matter
Serif feels classic. Sans serif feels clean. Slab serif is bold and friendly. For a kids’ library sign, I used a round sans. For a law firm, a sharp serif. I also turned on ligatures for “fi” and “fl” in a brochure. It smoothed the bumps. Little detail, big vibe.
Where it missed, and how I patched it
- The glossary didn’t talk much about accessibility. I ran my colors through a contrast checker and bumped the text to pass WCAG AA.
- It brushed past grids. I used a 12-column grid for a newsletter. It kept photos and text lined up. It looked tidy without trying too hard.
- Pantone wasn’t deep. For a merch run, I asked the printer for a Pantone match on the brand blue. The mugs matched the banner. That felt pro.
If you’re hunting for authentic, high-resolution photos that feature Black girls in everyday scenarios—perfect for bringing diversity into your layouts—check out this photo collection where you’ll find a wide range of images you can draw from to make your designs feel more inclusive, relatable, and fresh.
Who should use this
- New designers who want the words without the eye rolls.
- Social media folks making posts every week.
- Teachers who need quick, clean definitions for class.
- Small business owners who hate wasting prints.
My verdict
This glossary made me faster and calmer. It saved me from reprints. It helped me talk to printers without guessing. Not perfect, but good bones, good tone, and real help on real jobs. I’ll keep it open while I work—especially during busy season when the fall posters, pumpkin colors, and holiday menus pile up.
Would I recommend it? Yes. If design words feel like a secret club, this gives you the key. And no gatekeeper in sight.