VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON

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A comprehensivedictionary for Digital Design industry terms

2 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON A

ActionScript Anobject-orientedprogramminglanguageoriginallydevelopedbyMacromediaInc. (nowownedbyAdobeSystems).Itisprimarilyusedforthedevelopmentofwebsites andsoftwaretargetingtheAdobeFlashPlayerplatform,usedonWebpagesinthe formofembeddedSWFfiles.

Ad Audience Thenumberofpeopleexposedtoanadwithinaspecifiedtimeperiod.

Ad Click Ameasurementofhowpeopleinteractwithabannerad.Eachtypeofclickinteraction —click-thru,in-unitandmouseover—createsaredirecttoanotherweblocationor anotherframewithinthead.

Ad Impression Anadthatisservedtoaperson’sbrowser.Theycanberequestedbyabrowser (referredtoas”pulled”ads)orpushed,suchase-mailedads.

Ad Network Anaggregatororbrokerofadvertisingformanysites.Adnetworksarethesales representativesforthewebsiteswithinthenetwork.TheGooglenetwork,forexample, representsoverathousandwebsites.

Ad Serving Thedeliveryofadsbyaservertoanenduser’scomputer.It’snormallyperformedby eitherawebpublisherorathird-partyadserver.DoubleClick,Eyewonder,and Eyeblasterarealladservers.

Advergame AdownloadableorWeb-basedcomputergamewhichincorporatesandfeatures advertisingforproductsandservices.

Agile Project Management Aniterativemethodofdeterminingrequirementsforinteractiveapplicationsand/or softwareandfordeliveringprojectsinahighlyflexibleandcollaborativemanner.It requiresempoweredindividualsfromtherelevantbusiness,withsupplierandcustomer input.ThedifferencebetweenAgileanditerativedevelopmentisthatthedeliverytime inAgileisinweeksratherthanmonths.

Aliasing Theappearanceofjaggeddistortionsincurvesanddiagonallinesincomputergraphics becausetheresolutionislimitedordiminished.

Alignment Aligningatechnologyproductorservicewiththebusinessneeds.Ortheproper positioningofalltypefacesandsizevariationsalonganimaginaryreferenceline.

Animated GIF AnanimatedimagethatiscreatedbycombiningmultipleGIF(GraphicsInterchange (Graphics Interchange Format) Format)images—abitmapimageformatintoasinglefile.

Ascender Thepartofthetalllowercaseletters,suchasb,d,andh,thatextendsabovetheother lowercaseletters.

Aspect Ratio Theratioofanimagecalculatedbyitswidthinrelationtoitsheight,expressedastwo numbersseparatedbyacolon.Thatis,foranx:yaspectratio,nomatterhowbigor smalltheimageis,ifthewidthisdividedintoxunitsofequallengthandtheheightis measuredusingthissamelengthunit,theheightwillbemeasuredtobeyunits.

Themostcommonaspectratiosusedtodayinthepresentationoffilmsinmovietheaters are1.85:1and2.39:1.Twocommonvideoaspectratiosare4:3(1.33:1),universalfor standard-definitionvideoformats,and16:9(1.78:1),universalforhigh-definitiontelevision andEuropeandigitaltelevision.Othercinemaandvideoaspectratiosexist,butthey varyheavilybasedonpresentationdeviceandscreenresolution.

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3 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON A

Arduino Anopen-sourceelectronicsprototypingplatform,designedtomaketheprocessofusing electronicsinmultidisciplinaryprojectsmoreaccessible.

Augmented Reality Alive,directorindirectviewofaphysical,real-worldenvironmentwhoseelements areaugmentedbyvirtualcomputer-generatedsensoryinput,suchassound orgraphics.

Avatar Agrahic,visualcharacterinagamethatrepresentsandiscontrolledbytheplayer.

AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) AdobeIntegratedRuntime.Across-operatingsystemwhichallowsdevelopers tocombineHTML,Flash,andFlextechnologiestocreaterichinternetapplications (RIAs).AIRalsoallowsdeveloperstouselayoutprograms,suchasInDesignand Dreamweaver,oranytexteditortobuildtheirapplications.

By meditating on this advertising campaign, I have expanded my

awareness.

Awareness Thepercentageofpopulationortargetmarketwhoareawareoftheexistenceofa givenbrandorcompany.Therearetwotypesofawareness:spontaneous,whichmeasures thepercentageofpeoplewhoautomaticallymentionaparticularbrandwhenaskedto namebrandsinacertaincategory;andprompted,whichmeasuresthepercentageof peoplewhorecognizeabrandfromaparticularcategorywhenshownalist.

4 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON B

B Banner Agraphicadvertisingimagedisplayedonawebpage.Bannerscanbestaticimages, animatedGIFs,orFlashobjects.TheInteractiveAdvertisingBureau(IAB)features bannersizeinformationontheirsite,www.iab.net.

Baseline Theinvisiblelinethatletterssitoninalineoftext.Someletters,likethelowercase “g”,hangbelowthebaseline.

Behavioral Targeting Atechniqueusedbyonlinepublishersandadvertiserstoincreasetheeffectivenessof acampaign.Itusesinformationcollectedfromindividuals,suchaspagesvisitedor searchesmade,toselectwhatadsareserved.Theideaistopresenttherightmessage totherightpersonattherighttime.

Bird's Eye View Ashotinwhichthecameraphotographsascenefromdirectlyoverhead.

Blog Asimplewayforpeopletopublishtheirthoughts,commentaryornews.Blogsare usuallyonlinepersonaljournals,buttheycanalsofocusonspecificinterestareas likeart,celebrities,technology,etc.Atypicalblogcombinestext,images,andlinksto otherblogs,webpagesandothermediarelatedtoitstopic.Theabilityforreadersto leavecommentsinaninteractiveformatisanimportantpartofmanyblogs.

Bookmark Storedwebpagelocations(URLs)thatcanberetrieved.Afeatureofallmodern Internetwebbrowsers,theirprimarypurposeistoeasilycatalogandaccessweb pagesthatauserhasvisitedandsaved.Withtheadventofsocialbookmarking,shared bookmarkshavebecomeameansforuserssharingsimilarintereststopoolweb resources,ortostoretheirbookmarkssotheyarenottiedtoonespecificcomputeror browser.Web-basedbookmarkingservicesletuserssavebookmarks.

Brainstorming Anindividualorgroupcreativitytechniquedesignedtogeneratealargenumberof ideasforthesolutionofaproblem.(seePaperStorming)

? Better get inside. I hear

there is a big brainstorm

on the way!!

? Better get inside. I hear

there is a big brainstorm

on the way!!

5 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON B

Brand Abrandisamixtureofattributes,tangibleandintangible,symbolizedinatrademark, which,ifmanagedproperly,createsvalueandinfluence.

Brand Architecture Thestructureandnamingofanorganization’smultiplebrands.Therearethreemain typesofbrandarchitecturesystem:monolithic,wherethecorporatenameisusedon allproductsandservicesofferedbythecompany;endorsed,whereallsub-brands arelinkedtothecorporatebrandbymeansofeitheraverbalorvisualendorsement; andfreestanding,wherethecorporatebrandoperatesmerelyasaholdingcompany, andeachproductorserviceisindividuallybrandedforitstargetmarket.

Brand Equity Thesumofalldistinguishingqualitiesofabrand,drawnfromallrelevantstakeholders, thatresultsinpersonalcommitmenttoanddemandforthebrand;thesedifferentiating thoughtsandfeelingsmakethebrandvaluedandvaluable.

Brand Essence Thebrand'spromiseexpressedinthesimplest,mostsingle-mindedterms.For example,Volvo=Safety;AA=FourthEmergencyService.Themostpowerfulbrand essencesarerootedinafundamentalcustomerneed.

Brand Experience Themeansbywhichabrandiscreatedinthemindofastakeholder.Someexperiences arecontrolled,suchasretailenvironments,advertising,products/services,websites, etc.Someareuncontrolledlikejournalisticcommentandwordofmouth.Strong brandsarisefromconsistentexperienceswhichcombinetoformaclear,differentiated overallbrandexperience.

Brand Identity Theoutwardexpressionofthebrand,includingitsnameandvisualappearance.The brand'sidentityisitsfundamentalmeansofconsumerrecognitionandsymbolizes thebrand'sdifferentiationfromcompetitors.

Brand Management Practically,thisinvolvesmanagingthetangibleandintangibleaspectsofthebrand. Forproductbrandsthetangiblesaretheproductitself,thepackaging,theprice,etc. Forservicebrands,thetangiblesarerelatedthecustomerexperience—theretail environment,interfacewithsalespeople,overallsatisfaction,etc.Forproduct,service andcorporatebrands,theintangiblesarethesameandrefertotheemotionalconnections derivedasaresultofexperience,identity,communicationandpeople.Intangiblesare thereforemanagedviathemanipulationofidentity,communicationandpeopleskills.

Brand Personality Theattributionofhumanpersonalitytraits(seriousness,warmth,imagination,etc.) toabrandasawaytoachievedifferentiation.Usuallythisisaccomplishedthrough long-termabove-the-lineadvertisingandappropriatepackagingandgraphics.These traitsinformbrandbehaviorthroughbothpreparedcommunication/packaging,etc., andthroughthepeoplewhorepresentthebrand—itsemployeesandcelebrity brandambassadors.

Brand Platform TheBrandPlatformconsistsofthefollowingelements:

Brand Vision Thebrand'sguidinginsightintoitsworld.

Brand Mission Howthebrandwillactonitsinsight.

Brand Values Thecodebywhichthebrandlives.Thebrandvaluesactasabenchmarktomeasure behaviorsandperformance.

Brand Personality Thebrand'shuman-lifecharacteristicsortraits.

6 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON B

Brand Tone of Voice Howthebrandspeakstoitsaudiences.

Branding Selectingandblendingtangibleandintangibleattributestodifferentiateaproduct, serviceorcorporationinanattractive,meaningfulandcompellingway.

Bundler AnInDesignapplicationfunctionthattakesmultiple.issuefilesand“bundles”them intoasingle.IPAfile,whichcanthenbereadasaneMagazineintheViewerappbyAdobe.

The Bundler is my all-time favorite super-villain!

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7 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON C

Call-To-Action Statementusuallyfoundneartheconclusionofacommercialmessagethatsummons theconsumertoact.

Canted Angle, Dutch Angle, Dutched Angle Theanglingofthecamerasothatthehorizontalframelineisnotparalleltothehorizon.

CAPM ThefirstlevelofprojectmanagementcertificationasestablishedbytheProject (Certified Associate in Project Management) ManagementInstitute(PMI):http://www.pmi.org(seePMI).

Card Sorting Anactivityusedtohelpgrouptopicsandcategorieswithinasite.Thistechniqueisbest usedintheearlystagesofinformationarchitecturedesign.Cardsortingisacategori- zationmethodwhereuserssortcardsdepictingvariouspiecesofinformationinto categories.Thiscanbedonefromanexpertspointofavieworusingactualusersof thesitetoseewheretherearecommanalities.

Click-stream Therecordingofwhatacomputeruserclicksonwhilewebbrowsingorusinganother softwareapplication.Astheuserclicksanywhereinthesiteorapplication,theaction isloggedonaclientorinsidethewebserver,aswellaspossiblythewebbrowser, routers,proxyserversandadservers.Click-streamanalysisisusefulforwebactivity analysis,softwaretestingandmarketresearch.

Client-side Referstooperationsthatareperformedbytheclientinaclient–serverrelationshipin acomputernetwork.Typically,aclientisacomputerapplication,suchasaweb browser,thatrunsonauser'slocalcomputerorworkstationandconnectstoaserver asnecessary.

Close-up, Close Shot Adetailedviewofapersonorobject,usuallywithoutmuchcontextofthesurrounding environment.

Consumer Generated Media (CGM) Postsmadebyconsumersinonlinevenues,suchassocialmediawebsites,Internet forums,blogs,wikis,discussionlists,etc.,onproductstheyhavepurchased,questions theyhave,orproblemstheyaretryingtosolve.Theideahassinceevolvedfromitsearly rootsofconsumerfeedbackviaonlinelettersande-mailtoencompassnewmedia, suchasvideo,photosandsocialnetworkingsites,aswellasconsumer-fortifiedmedia todescribetheuseofprogramssuchasDigg,DeliciousandStumbleUpon.

Content & Section Sponsorship Advertiserswhoexclusivelysponsoraparticularsectionofasiteore-mailthat includestheadvertiser’sbranding.

Content Strategy Ahigh-levelstrategicoverviewofcontent(text,visualassets,etc.)forawebsiteor interactiveapplication.Itincludesananalysisofthecontentyouhave(aContentAudit orContentInventory)andanassessmentofthecontentyouneed.Itbecomesthe basisforalldecisionsaboutcontent.

Contextual Ads Aformoftargetedadvertisingappearingonwebsitesorothermedia,suchascontent displayedinmobilebrowsers.Theadsthemselvesareselectedandservedbyautomated systemsbasedonthecontentdisplayedtotheuser.

Contextual Search Textlinksappearinanarticlebasedonthecontextofthecontent,insteadofauser- submittedkeyword.Paymentonlyoccurswhenthelinkisclicked.

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8 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON C

Continuity Thekindoflogicimpliedintheassociationofideasbetweeneditedshots."Cuttingto continuity"emphasizessmoothtransitionsbetweenshots,inwhichspaceandtimeare unobtrusivelycondensed."Classicalcutting"emphasizesdramaticoremotionallogic betweenshotsratherthanonebasedstrictlyonconsiderationsoftimeandspace.In "thematicmontage"thecontinuityisbasedentirelyonideas,irrespectiveofliteral timeandspace.Insomeinstances,"continuity"referstothespace-timecontinuumof realitybeforeitisphotographed.

Cookie Afilethatisstoredinaperson’sbrowserusedtoidentifythatparticularperson. Cookiesusuallystoreinformationlikeuserpreferences,shoppingcartcontentsand otherwebsiteinformation.Mostbrowsersletusersdecidewhethertoacceptcookies andhowlongtokeepthem.

Copy Writing Theprocessofwritingtextforanadvertisementthatgetsreadersattention,generates interestanddesire,andpromptsaction.

Corporate Identity Ataminimum,isusedtorefertothevisualidentityofacorporation(logo,signage, etc.),butusuallytakentomeananorganization'spresentationtoitsstakeholdersand themeansbywhichitdifferentiatesitselffromotherorganizations.

CPC (Cost Per Click) Thecostofadvertisingbasedonthenumberofclicksreceived.

I like collecting cookies but they always seem to go stale.

9 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON C

CPI (Cost Per Interaction) Costofadvertisingbasedonausertakingsomespecificallydefinedactioninresponse toaRichMedia(e.g.,PointRoll®)ad.“Interactions”includesuchthingsasrollingover anadandexpandingdifferentpanelswithinanad.

CPL (Cost Per Lead) Costofadvertisingbasedonthenumberofdatabasefiles(orleads/newcustomers) received.

CTR (Click-thru Rate) Ratioofadclickstoadimpressions.TheindustryaverageCTRiscurrentlymuchless than1%forastandardbanner.

Crane Shot Ashottakenfromaspecialdevicecalledacrane,whichresemblesahugemechanical arm.Thecranecarriesthecameraandcameraman,andcanmoveinvirtually anydirection.

Creative Brief Ashortdocumentatthebeginningofaprojectthatdefinesthetaskathandand establishesthestrategyforthecreativeandconceptualdirectionoftheproject.

Customer Experience Sumofallexperiencesacustomerhaswithasupplierofgoodsorservices,overthe durationoftheirrelationshipwiththatsupplier.Itcanalsobeusedtomeanan individualexperienceoveronetransaction;thedistinctionisusuallyclearincontext.

Customer Relationship Management Trackingcustomerbehaviorforthepurposeofdevelopingmarketingandrelationship- (CRM) buildingprocessesthatbondtheconsumertothebrand.Developingsoftwareor systemstoprovideone-to-onecustomerserviceandpersonalcontactbetweenthe companyandthecustomer.

I keep debugging but the roaches always come back.

10 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON D

Debugging Amethodicalprocessoffindingandreducingthenumberofbugs,ordefects,ina computerprogramorapieceofelectronichardware,thusmakingitbehaveas expected.

Digital Printing Essentially,printingdirectlyontopaperfromadigitalfile,withoutplates.Therearea widerangeofprintingtechnologiescoveredby“digitalprinting”.Mostdigitalprinting isdrytoner-based.Somehigher-enddigitalprinters,suchastheHPIndigo,use liquidinkandevenaccommodateadditionalspotcoloursinadditiontoCMYK (Cyan,Magenta,Yellow,Black).Digitalprintingischangingconstantlyatthemoment, butisstillmostcommonforshortrunsorrunswhichrequirecustomizationwith variabledata,suchasforone-to-onemarketing.

Dolly Zoom, “Zolly” Anunsettling,in-cameraspecialeffectthatappearstounderminenormalvisual perceptioninfilm.Theeffectisachievedbyusingthesettingofazoomlenstoadjust theangleofview(oftenreferredtoasfieldofview)whilethecameradollies(ormoves) towardsorawayfromthesubjectinsuchawayastokeepthesubjectthesamesize intheframethroughout.Initsclassicform,thecameraispulledawayfromasubject whilethelenszoomsin,orvice-versa.Thus,duringthezoom,thereisacontinuous perspectivedistortion,themostdirectlynoticeablefeaturebeingthatthebackground appearstochangesizerelativetothesubject.

Domain Name Thenamethatidentifiesawebsite,usuallyendingwith.comforcommercialweb sites.Othercommondesignatorslike.net(network),.org(non-commercial),.edu (educational)and.gov(governmental)areallconsideredgenericdomains.Thereare alsogeographicdomainslike.us(UnitedStates),.uk(UnitedKingdom),.ca(Canada), etc.todesignatecountriesoforigin.

DPI (Dots Per Inch) “Dotsperinch”,orthenumberofdotswithinaninchofprintedimage,isameasure ofimageresolution.TheDPIofanimageonscreenisnotfixed:decreasingthephysical sizeoftheimageincreasestheDPI,asthenumberofdotsareredistributedand becomedenser.IncreasingthesizeofadigitalimagereducestheDPI.StandardDPI valuesare:72DPI(screen),300DPI(basicprint),500–1200DPI(finelinedrawings, suchasarchitectureplansandsmooth,high-contrastobjects,suchasrasterizedtype).

Drop-Cap Thefirstletterofaparagraphthatisenlargedto"drop"downtwoormorelines,asin thenextparagraph.

Dynamic Rotation Deliveryofadsonarotating,randombasissothatusersareexposedtodifferentads andadsareservedonadifferentpagesofthesite.

D

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11 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON E

Elipse aclosedplanecurveresultingfromtheintersectionofacircularconeandaplane cuttingcompletelythroughit;ageometricfigureresemblinganelongatedcircle.

E-mail Advertising Bannerads,linksoradvertisersponsorshipsthatappearine-mailnewsletters,e-mail marketingcampaignsandothercommerciale-mailcommunications.Itcanbeused withe-mailsthatareeitherplaintextorHTML-based.

eBook Abookinelectronicordigitalform.ItmaybeasimplePDFinitsmostbasicform. eBooksaredevelopingsorapidlyatthemomentthattheyarenotverystandardized. Themostcommonreaders(hardware)foreBooksaretheKindlebyAmazonandthe iPad.ThecomplexityofaneBookrangesfromsimpleblack-and-whitetexttobe flippedorscrolledthroughtocolourimagespairedwithdynamicfloatingtext.

Engraving Atraditionaltypeofprintingproducedbypressinganengravedmetalplateintothe surfaceofpaper.Theresultisthattheprintedareaisdepressed(itcanalsoberaised). Commonforweddinginvitations.Theresultissimilartoletterpress.

ePub Electronicpublication.ePubistechnicallydesignedforreflowablecontent,however somereaders,suchastheViewerappbyAdobe,arenotreflowable.Reflowable contentmeansthetextautomaticallywrapswordsinadocumenttothenextlineasthe userchangeswindowsizeandtherebyrelocatestherightmarginofthepage.

Establishing Shot Usuallyanextremelongorlongshotofferedatthebeginningofasceneorsequence providingtheviewerwiththecontextofthesubsequentclosershots.

Ethnography Asubdisciplineofanthropologyandsociologythatstressesqualitativeresearch,as opposedtothemore"scientific"quantitativeresearchthatmeasuresspecificbehaviors, testshypotheses,includesstatistics,etc.

ETV (Enhanced Television) Atypeofinteractivetelevisiontechnologythatallowscontentproducerstosenddata andgraphic“enhancements.”Theseenhancementsappearasoverlaysonthevideo andallowviewerstoclickonthemiftheyarewatchingTVviaaspecialset-topboxor softwareservice.

Expandable Banner Abanneradthatexpandsto2–3timesitsoriginalsizewhenapersoninteractswith it,eitherthroughaclickoramouseover.Expandablebannersallowadvertisersto bringanengagingexperiencetoauserwithoutrequiringthemtoleavethesiteon whichtheoriginaladwasserved.

Extreme Close-up Aminutelydetailedviewofanobjectoraperson.Anextremeclose-upofanactor generallyincludesonlyhiseyesorhismouth.

Extreme Long Shot Apanoramicviewofanexteriorlocation,photographedfromagreatdistance,oftenas farasaquarter-mileaway.

Eye-level Shot Theplacementofthecameraapproximately5to6feetfromthegroundcorresponding totheheightofanobserveronthescene.

Eye-line, Sight-line Animaginarylinethatisdrawnbetweenasubjectandtheobjectatwhichheorsheis looking.Thedirectionofasubject’seyesinrelationtotheplacementofacamera. Whencloseupsoftwoindividualsareeditedtogetherinconversation,theirsight-lines mustmatchinorderforittoappearthattheyarelookingateachother.

Eye-tracking Aresearchmethodthatdetermineswhatpartofanadvertisementconsumerslookat, bytrackingthepatternoftheireyemovements.

E

12 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON F

Faceted Search Facetedsearch,alsoknownasfacetednavigationorfacetedbrowsing,isatechnique foraccessingacollectionofinformationrepresentedusingafacetedclassification, allowinguserstoexplorebyfilteringavailableinformation.Unlikeasimplehierarchical scheme,facetedsearchgivestheuserstheabilitytofinditemsbasedonmorethan onedimension.Forexample,someusersshoppingforjewelrymaybemostinterested inbrowsingbyaparticulartypeofjewelry(earrings,necklaces),whileothersaremore interestedinbrowsingbyaparticularmaterial(gold,silver).“Material”and“type”are examplesoffacets;earrings,necklaces,gold,silverareexamplesoffacetvalues.

Fish-eye Lens Anextremewideanglelens,whichdistortstheimagesoradicallythattheedgesseem wrappedintoasphere.

.issue File AfileusedtomakeaneMagazine.ItisproducedinInDesign.Initiallyonlyavailablefor publishingeMagazinesontheAppleiPad,butwilleventuallybeavailableforother platforms.A.issuefileismadeupofmultiple“stacks”(see“Stacks”).Whenprocessed throughtheBundler(see“Bundler”)a.issuefilebecomesa.IPAfilewhichcanthenbe madeavailableasaneMagazineontheiPad.

.IPA File AfilewhichmaybeusedwithanappmadebyAdobecalledthe"viewer"toproducean eMagazinefortheiPad.

Flash Apopularmultimediaplatformthatiscommonlyusedtocreateanimation,advertisements andvariouswebpagecomponents.It’salsousedtointegratevideointowebpages and,morerecently,todeveloprichInternetapplications.

Floating Ad Anadthatappearswithinthemainbrowserwindowontopofthewebpagesnormal content,therebyappearingto“float”overthetopofthepage.Oftenreferredtoasan EyeblasterorBadBoy.

Focus Group Aqualitativeresearchtechniqueinwhichagroupofabouteightpeopleisinvitedto aneutralvenuetodiscussagivensubject.Theprincipleisthesameasanin-depth interview,exceptthatgroupdynamicshelptomakethediscussionlivelierandmore wide-ranging.Qualitativegroupsenabletheresearchertoprobedeeperintospecific areasofinterest(forexample,thenatureofcommitmenttoabrand).Theresultadds richertexturetotheunderstandingofbroaderdata(forexample,quantitative),which maypaintgeneraltrendsorobservations.Alsoknownasagroupdiscussion.

Fold Thelinebelowwhichauserhastoscrolltoseecontentnotimmediatelyvisiblewhena webpageloadsinabrowser.Monitorsizeandresolutiondeterminewhereonthepage thefoldlies.

Folksonomy Collaborativecategorizationusingacommunitytoolfordevelopingacontrolledvocabulary ofmetadatatags.

Font Asetofrepeatableglyphs(usuallyincludingupper-andlowercasealphabet,punctuation, andnumerals)whichcanbeusedtosettype.Ingeneralparlance,“font”isoften usedinterchangeablywith“typeface”.Technically,afontisthephysicalmanifestation (digitalormetal)ofatypeface.Forexample,11-pointHelveticaUltraLightCondensedis afontofHelveticaNeue(thetypeface).

Frequency Thenumberoftimesanadisdeliveredtothesamebrowserinasinglesessionortime period.Asitecanusecookies(seeCookies)inordertomanageadfrequency.

FTP FileTransferProtocol(FTP)isastandardnetworkprotocolusedtocopyafilefromone hosttoanotheroveraTCP-basednetwork,suchastheInternet.

F

13 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON GHI

Geo-targeting Displayingcontentbasedonautomatedorassumedknowledgeofanenduser’sposition intherealworld.Geo-targetingisrelevanttobothPCandmobiledataservices.

Graphical User Interface Agraphicaluserinterface(GUI)isamethodofhumaninteractionwithacomputer throughdirectmanipulationofgraphicalimagesandwidgetsinadditiontotext.

Heuristic Evaluation Atechniqueforfindingusabilityproblemswithauserinterface.Asmallnumberof trainedevaluators,suchasusabilityspecialists(typically,1to3),separatelyinspecta userinterfacebyapplyingasetof"heurisitics",usabilityprinciples.Thetestersthen combinetheirresultsandranktheimportanceofeachproblemtoprioritizerevisions.

Hierarchy Asystemofpersonsorthingsarrangedinagradedorder.Aformalstructure,usually representedbyadiagramofconnectednodes,withasingleuppermostelement.

Hit Arequesttoawebserverforafile(webpage,image,JavaScript,CascadingStyle Sheet,etc.).Whenawebpageisuploadedfromaserver,thenumberof"hits"or"page hits"isequaltothenumberoffilesrequested.

HyperText Markup Language (HTML) HyperTextMarkupLanguage(HTML)isthepredominantmarkuplanguageforweb pages.HTMListhebasicbuilding-blocksofwebpages.Amarkuplanguageisasetof markuptags,andHTMLusesmarkuptagstodescribewebpages.

Icon Agraphicsymbol(usuallyasimplepicture)thatconveystheconceptualmeaningofa programorcommandinagraphicaluserinterface.

Illustration Anytypeofpictureordecorationusedinconjunctionwithtexttoembellishitsappearance ortoclarifyitsmeaning.

In-banner Video Ad Avideospotthattakesuprealestatewithinanonlinebanner.Theseadsrunonatypical HTMLpagewithoutvideocontent,unlikeapre-rollorbroadbandvideocommercial thatrunspriortovideocontent.

Information Architecture Thecombinationoforganization,labeling,navigationschemesandretrievalmechanisms withinaninformationspace,suchasawebsite.

Insert, Insert Shot Afilmtermusuallyusedtodescribeaclose-upofimportantdetailinascene.

Instant Messaging (IM) Amethodofcommunicatinginrealtime,eitherone-to-oneoringroups,overthe Internet.PeopleuseIMclients(likeAOLInstantMessenger,MSNMessenger,iChat, etc.)tocommunicatewiththeirfriendsinstantly.

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14 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON I JK

Interaction Design Document (IDD) Adocumentcontainingacollectionofhigh-fidelitywireframesdescribingthecontent, behavior,andinteraction/scenariosofaninterface.

Interstitial Anadthatappearsinbetweentwosectionsofinteractivecontent.

IOC (Interactive Overlay Creator) InteractiveOverlayCreator.CreatedbyAdobetotransformInDesignfilesintoeMagazine formatviewableontheiPadusingtheViewerappbyAdobe.

JavaScript Aprogramminglanguagethatrunsonaclient'sbrowserwhichmakesapagemore interactive.JavaScriptcanmakeanimatedimages,activatepop-upwindows,to changewhenyourmouserollsoverit,etc.

Jib, Camera Jib Incinematography,ajibisaboomdevicewithacameraononeend,andacounter- weightandcameracontrolsontheother.Itoperateslikeasee-saw,butwiththe balancepointlocatedclosetothecounterweight,sothatthecameraendofthearm canmovethroughanextendedarc.Ajibpermitsthecameratobemovedvertically, horizontally,oracombinationofthetwo.Ajibisoftenmountedonatripodor similarsupport.

Jump Cut Alinkageofshotsinasceneinwhichtheappearanceofrealcontinuoustimehasbeen interruptedbyomission.Incertainsituationsjumpcutsareanacceptedconvention forcompressingtime.Theycanalsobeusedasdeliberatelydisruptivedevicesor staccatos,specificallyinmusicvideosandcommercialsforpurelyrhythmiceffects.

Keyword Specificwordenteredintoasearchenginebytheuserthatresultsinalistofweb sitesrelatedtotheterm.Keywordscanbepurchasedbyadvertiserstohighlight theirsiteortoserveanadrelatedtotheuser’ssearch.

Kerning Theadjustmentofspacebetweentwolettersinatypesetword.Kerningisgenerally donetomakethespacingbetweeneachletterofaword(orphrase)lookoptically consistent.Nottobeconfusedwith“tracking”.

Kicker Apieceofmetadatawhichshowsupwhenscrollingthroughthetableofcontentsofan eMagazineintheViewerappbyAdobe.AkickerisaddedusingtheBundler(seeBundler).

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15 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON L

Leaderboard Awide,shortonlineadunit.TheIABguidelinesrecommendtwosizesofleaderboards: 468× 60and728×90.

Letterpress Atraditionaltypeofprintingwhichphysicallypressesmetaltypeintothesurfaceof paperwithliquidinkorvarnish.Similarinfinishtoengraving.

Ligature Asetofcharacters,usuallyapair,whichare“tied”togethertobecomeasingleglyph. Theideaistomakethelettersflowtogetherinamoreaestheticallypleasingway.The mostcommonligaturesare“fi”inplaceof“fi”and“fl”inplaceof“fl”,becausethe “f”bumpsintothedotofthe“i”andthetopofthe“l”.Almosteveryfonthasanalternate ligaturefor“fi”(and“fl”.MostAdobeproductsallowyoutoturnonligaturesinpreferences, sothattheyoccurautomatically.Otherwisetheyneedtobeaccessedseparately (i.e.,throughtheglyphspalette).Discretionaryligaturesarepairsofletterswhichhave adecorativeflourishtyingthemtogether.AtVFS,Mrs.Eaveshasalargelibraryof discretionaryligatures,suchasg or u.Commondiscretionaryligaturesaresandc.

Lining Figures Numeralswhichareallthesameheightandsitdirectlyonthebaseline(basically, regularnumbers).Theseareusedforcolumnsofnumbers,suchasinanannual report(SeeTextFigures).

Linux AcomputeroperatingsystemthatisaUNIXclone.Itwascreatedbyprogrammer LinusTorvalds,whogaveLinuxitsname.Linuxisthemostsuccessfulexampleofopen sourcesoftware.

Locked Off, Locked Off Camera Usedwhenreferringtoastationarycamera—usuallyonatripodorotherstablesupport— thatwillnotchangeinaspecifictake.Themechanismthatcontrolsitsmovement, suchasafluidheadorgearedhead,shouldbelockedinpositionforastaticshot.

Long Shot Acamerashottakenatarelativelygreatdistancefromthesubjectandpermittinga broadviewofascene.

Lower Third Inthetelevisionindustry(especiallyinNorthAmerica),alowerthirdisagraphic placedinthelowerareaofthescreen,thoughnotnecessarilytheentirelowerthirdof it,asthenamesuggests.Initssimplestform,alowerthirdcanjustbetextoverlying thevideo.Frequently,thistextiswhitewithadropshadowtomakethewordseasier toread.Alowerthirdcanalsocontaingraphicalelements,suchasboxes,imagesor shading.Somelowerthirdshaveanimatedbackgroundsandtext.

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16 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON M

M-Commerce (Mobile Commerce) Theabilitytoconducttransactionswithamobiledevice,suchasasmartphone.

Market Share Acompany'sshareoftotalsalesofagivencategoryofproductinagivenmarket. Marketsharecanbeexpressedeitherintermsofvolume(howmanyunitssold)or value(theworthofunitssold).

Master Apost-productiontermthatsignifiesafinishedfilethathasbeendeliveredtoaclient as“complete”.

Mastering Atermthatreferstothefinalpassofpost-production;typicallyinvolvingoutputfor broadcast,outputforweb,anddown-compressionforspecificdevicesandvideo codecs.Masteringisalsousedasablankettermfordetailworkandmaybeused todescribeanimationfinishing,colourgrading,andsounddesign.

Match Cut Acutinfilmeditingbetweeneithertwodifferentobjects,twodifferentspaces,ortwo differentcompositionsinwhichanobjectinthetwoshotsgraphicallymatch,often helpingtoestablishastrongcontinuityofactionandlinkingthetwoshotsmetaphorically.

Medium Shot Arelativelycloseshot,revealingamoderateamountofdetail.Amediumshotofa figuregenerallyincludesthebodyfromthekneesorwaistup.

Meta-Data Descriptivedatathatisattachedtoanobject(element)thatallowsapieceofcontentto bemoreaccuratelyindexed,retrievedorprocessed.

Microblogging Publishingverybriefposts—usuallyfewerthan140characters—toapublicwebsite.

Microsite Awebpageorclusterofwebpagesthatexistasasupplementtoaprimarywebsite. Micrositesareintendedtobetemporaryanddeliveraneditorialorcommercial message.Commercialmicrositesoftenhighlightnewproductsorsupportnew advertisingcampaigns.

Midroll Aformofonlinevideoadplacementwheretheadisplayedduringabreakinthe middleofthevideocontent.

Mind Map Adiagramusedtorepresentwords,ideas,tasks,orotheritemslinkedtoandarranged aroundacentralkeywordoridea.Mindmapsareusedtogenerate,visualize,structure, andclassifyideas,andasanaidinstudy,organization,problemsolving,decision making,andwriting.

M

I can’t wait to learn Vulcan

mind-mapping. It’s so cool when Spock does it.

17 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON M

Monolithic Brand Asinglebrandnamethatisusedto"masterbrand"allproductsorservicesinarange. Individualproductsarenearlyalwaysidentifiedbyalphaornumericsignifiers. CompanieslikeMercedesandBMWfavorsuchsystems.

Montage Transitionalsequencesofrapidlyeditedimagesusedtosuggestthelapseoftimeor thepassingofevents.Oftenemploysdissolvesandmultipleexposures.InEurope, "montage"meansediting.

Mouseover Theprocessbywhichsomeoneplaceshisorhermouseoveramediaobjectwithout clicking.Thisinteractionisoftenusedtorevealadditionalinformationorcontentinan expandableformat.

Multi-Sate Object Multipleversionsofanobject,orstate,canbeplacedonapageinInDesign.Objects arestackedandalignedontopofoneanother.A“state”referstotheconditionofan objectwithrespecttoitsform,structureandattributes.Onlyonestateisvisibleon apageatatime.Thisisespeciallyusefulfordocumentsthatmayappearinmorethan oneformat,suchasscreenandprint.CS5InDesignhasanewObjectStatespanel whichallowsadesignertocreatemulti-stateobjects.

There’s no way that iPhone

is worth 4G!!!

18 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON N

Who wants to learn about nomenclature? Personally, I find gnomes quite boring.

Names Therearethreebasiccategoriesofbrand(orcorporate)names:

DescriptiveName:Anamewhichdescribestheproductorserviceforwhichitis intended(e.g.,TALKINGPAGES).

AssociativeName:Anamewhichalludestoanaspectorbenefitoftheproductor service,oftenbymeansofanoriginalorstrikingimageoridea(e.g.,VISA).

FreestandingName:Anamewhichhasnolinktotheproductorservicebutwhich mighthavemeaningofitsown(e.g.,PENGUIN).

Thefollowingarealsohelpful:

AbstractName:Anamewhichisentirelyinventedandhasnomeaningofitsown (e.g.,ZENECA).Abstractnamesareasub-setoffreestandingnamesbecausetheyalso havenolinktotheproductofservice.

CoinedName:Anynamewhichisinsomewayinvented.Coinednamescanbedescriptive (CO-CREATE),associative(IMATION)andfreestanding/abstract(ZENECA).

Nomenclature Alistofnamesand/orterms,orthesystemofprinciples,proceduresandterms relatedtonaming.Theassigningofawordorphrasetoaparticularobjectorproperty.

N

19 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON OP

Object Oriented Programming Anapproachtoprogrammingwhichinvolvesthebuildingofabstractedcodeobjects designedtointeractwitheachother.Thisisanalternativetothesimplerbutmore common'proceduralprogrammingmethod'.JAVAandC++areexamplesofwell knownlanguagesthatoftenusethismethod.

Open Source Thepracticeofpubliclysharingintellectualpropertywhereallofthesourcematerials (ormoretypically—computersourcecode)isavailableforanybodytoaddtoand improve,ontheconditionthatitremainsopenandfree.Popularopensourceapplications includetheFirefoxwebbrowser,VLCMediaPlayer,theApachewebserver,andthe Ubuntuoperatingsystem.

Offset Printing Printwhichisproducedbytransferringliquidinkfromaplateontopaper,viaarubber blanket.Inthelate90smostprintersbeganusingdirect-to-platetechnology,sothat platesaremadefromdigitalfilesratherthanfromfilm.Platesareusuallymetal, sometimesplastic.Offsettypicallyuses4plates,1eachofC(Cyan),M(Magenta), Y(Yellow),andK(Black).Alsocommonlyusedare“spotcolours”whicharepremixed coloursusedonasingleplate,suchasPantonecolours.Offsetprintingismost commonlyusedforlargeruns.

Ontology Asetofexplicitsharedformalconceptswhichpermitscategorization.Itisusedto organizeorclassifycontent,information,orknowledge.

Opt-in Referstoanindividualgivingacompanypermissiontousedatacollectedfromor abouttheindividualforaparticularreason,suchastomarketthecompany’sproducts andservices.

Opt-in E-mail ListsofInternetuserswhohavevoluntarilysigneduptoreceivecommerciale-mail abouttopicsofinterest.

Opt-out Whenacompanystatesthatitplanstomarketitsproductsandservicestoanindividual unlesstheindividualaskstoberemovedfromthecompany’smailinglist.Thisstrategy isnotconsideredaspoliteasopt-in.

Over-the-shoulder Shot Amediumshot,usefulindialoguescenes,inwhichoneactorisphotographedhead- onfromovertheshoulderofanotheractor.

Packaging Design The3-dimensionaldesignofthepackformatandgraphicsforaproductbrand.

Page View ApagevieworpageimpressionisarequesttoloadasingleHTMLfile('page')ofan Internetsite.OntheWorldWideWeb,a'page'requestwouldresultfromawebsurfer clickingonalinkonanother'page'pointingtothe'page'inquestion.Thisshouldbe contrastedwithahit,whichreferstoarequestforanyfilefromawebserver.

Paid Inclusion Guaranteesthatamarketer’sURLisindexedbyasearchengine.Thelistingis determinedbytheengine’ssearchalgorithms.

Paid Listings Textlinksappearatthetoporsideofsearchresultsforspecifickeywords.Themorea marketerpays,thehigherthepositionitgets.Marketersonlypaywhenauserclicks onthetextlink.

P

O

20 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON P

Paperstorming Arapidbrainstormingmethodinwhichagroupofpeoplequicklygenerateconcepts, writethemdownonpaperandthendetermine,asagroup,whichonesaremost successful.

Parallel Twoormorestraightcoplanar(lyingoroccurringinthesameplane)linesthatdo notintersect.

Perpendicular Averticalornearlyverticallineorplane(beingatrightanglestothehorizontal).

Perspective Thetechniqueofrepresentingthree-dimensionalobjectsanddepthrelationshipsona two-dimensionalsurface.

Persona Identifiesaspecifictypeofuserbycreatingafictionalpersonwithethnographicdetails —agivenname,gender,age,education,interests,workdescription,behaviours, attitudes,etc.

Pixel Apictureelement(singleilluminateddot)onacomputermonitor.Itistheunitofmeasure forbannerads.Aleaderboard,forexample,is728pixelswideby90pixelstall.

Podcast AmethodofpublishingaudioorvideofilestotheInternetallowingpeopletosubscribe toafeedandreceivenewfilesautomatically,usuallyatnocost.Videopodcastsare sometimesreferredtoasVodcasts.

Point-of-view Shot, POV Anyshotwhichistakenfromthevantagepointofacharacterinthefilm.Alsoknown asthefirstpersoncamera.

PointRoll Anadvertisingrichmediaproviderthatenablesadvertiserstomaximizeonlinemarketing impactbyexpandingexistingstandardadunits,floatingads,streamingvideoinads,etc.

Podcasting is my latest fly-fishing technique.

21 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON P

Pop-under Ad Anonlineadthatappearsinaseparatewindowbeneathanopenwindow.Pop-under adsareconcealeduntilthetopwindowisclosed,moved,resizedorminimized.

Pop-up Ad Anonlineadthatappearsinaseparatewindowontopofcontentalreadyonscreen.

Pop-up Transitional Anonlineadthatinitiatesplayinaseparatewindowduringthetransitionbetweencontentpages.

Portal Awebsitethatoftenservesasastartingpointforawebuser’ssession.Ittypically providesservices,suchassearch,adirectoryofwebsites,news,weather,e-mail, homepagespace,stockquotes,sportsandmore.

Positioning Statement Awrittendescriptionofthepositionthatacompanywishesitself,itsproductorits brandtooccupyinthemindsofadefinedtargetaudience.

Posting Anentryonamessageboard,blogorotheronlineforum.

Primary Navigation Thetoplevelnavigationofasiteusedtoindicatethecurrentsectionandtonavigate betweenallothermainsections.

Print Designwhichisproducedbyinkonpaper.Therearemanywaystoprint,includingsilk- screening,offset,letterpress,engravinganddigitally.Arguably,bookswhichare renderedonscreen,suchasonaKindleoriPad,areanewsubsetofprintdesign. (SeealsoOffsetPrinting;DigitalPrinting;Silkscreen;Engraving;Letterpress.)

Pre-roll Aformofonlinevideoadplacementwheretheadisplayedbeforethecontentvideo.

Pre-visualization Previsualization(alsoknownasprevizorprevis)isatermthatisoftenusedtodescribe anytechniquethatattemptstovisualizeprojects(e.g.,brainstorming,wireframes, storyboards,etc.)

Profiling Thepracticeoftrackinginformationaboutconsumers’interestsbymonitoringtheir movementsonline.Thiscanbedonewithoutusinganypersonalinformation,but simplybyanalyzingthecontent,URLsandotherinformationaboutauser’sbrowsing pathorclick-stream.

PERT Aprojectmanagementestimatingtechniqueforactivitydurationsthatusesa (Program Evaluation & Review Technique) weightedaveragetomodelthedurationprobabilitydistribution.

PMBOK Theapproach(andguidebook)ofthePMI.(SeePMI). (Project Management Book of Knowledge)

PMI (Project Management Institute) TheProjectManagementInstituteistheworld’sleadingassociationfortheproject managementprofession.Itadministersaglobally-recognized,rigorous,educational, and/orprofessionalexperienceandexamination-basedprofessionalcredentialing programthatmaintainsanISO9001certificationinqualitymanagementsystems.

PMP (Project Management Professional) ProjectManagementProfessionalqualification,certifiedbythePMI.

Prototype Oneofthefirstunitsmanufacturedofaproduct,whichistestedsothatthedesigncan bechangedifnecessarybeforetheproductismanufacturedcommercially.

Publisher Anindividualororganizationthatprepares,issuesanddisseminatescontentforpublic distributionorsaleviaoneormoremedia.

22 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON R

Rack Focusing, Selective Focusing Theblurringoffocalplanesinsequence,forcingtheviewer'seyeto"travel"withthose areasofanimagethatremaininsharpfocus.

R.A.S.C.I. Projectmanagementacronymusedtodescribeprojectresourceresponsibilities: Responsible,Accountable,Supportive,Consulted,Informed.

Ratio Relationindegreeornumberbetweentwosimilarthings.

Reach Thetotalnumberofuniquevisitorswhowillbeservedagivenad.

Rebrand Whenabrandownerrevisitsthebrandwiththepurposeofupdatingorrevisingbased oninternalorexternalcircumstances.Rebrandingisoftennecessaryafteramergeror acquisition,orifthebrandhasoutgrownitsidentity/marketplace.

Repeat Visitor Auniquevisitorwhohasaccessedawebsitemorethanonceoveraspecifictimeperiod.

Repositioning Communicationsactivitiestogiveanexistingproductanewpositionincustomers' mindsandsoexpandingorotherwisealteringitspotentialmarket.Manypotentially valuableproductsleadanobscureexistencebecausetheywerelaunchedorpositioned inaninadequatemanner.Itisalmostalwayspossibletoenhancethevalueofsuch productsbyrepositioningthem.

Return Visits Theaveragenumberoftimesarepeatvisitorreturnstoawebsiteoveraspecific timeperiod.

Rich Media Amethodofcommunicationthatincorporatesanimation,sounds,videoand/or interactivity.Richmediaadsalsohaveamuchlargerfilesizethanastandardbanner, whichallowsforamorecompellingexperience.Theclick-throughrate(SeeCTR)is similartoabannerad,buttheaverageinterctionrateisover2%andinteractiontime isover11seconds.

Roadblock TwoormoreInternetadsofvarioussizesthatcombinetoformaunit,whichdominates thescreen.

ROI (Return on Investment) Aperformancemeasureusedtoevaluatetheefficiencyofaninvestmentortocompare theefficiencyofanumberofdifferentinvestments.

RON (Run of Network) TheschedulingofInternetadvertisingwherebyanetworkpositionsadsacrossthesite itrepresentsatitsowndiscretion,accordingtoavailableinventory.

ROS (Run of Site) TheschedulingofInternetadvertisingwhereadsrunacrossanentiresite,oftenata lowercosttotheadvertiserthanthepurchaseofspecificsitesub-sections.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) AprocessforpublishingcontentontheInternetthatfacilitatesmovingcontentinto otherenvironments.Forexample,topstoriesonanewspaperwebsitecanbe publishedasanRSSfeedandpulledintoawebportalsite.RSSreadersaresoftware programsorwebsitesthatenableuserstosubscribetooneormoreRSSfeeds, deliveringcontentandinformationfrommultiplesourcesintoasingle-userinterface.

R

Hey, Hey! I know!!

Let’s get Rich Media to pay for this campaign!!

Hey, Hey! I know!!

Let’s get Rich Media to pay for this campaign!!

24 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON S

Sans Serif Intypography,asans-serif,sansseriforsanseriftypefaceisonethatdoesnothave thesmallfeaturescalled“serifs”attheendofstrokes.Thetermcomesfromthe Frenchwordsans,meaning"without".Inprint,sans-seriffontsaremoretypicallyused forheadlinesthanforbodytext.Theconventionalwisdomholdsthatserifshelpguide theeyealongthelinesinlargeblocksoftext.Sans-serifs,however,haveacquired considerableacceptanceforbodytextinEurope.

Sans-seriffontshavebecomethedefactostandardforbodytexton-screen,especially online.Thisispartlybecauseinterlaceddisplaysmayshowtwitteringonthefine detailsofthehorizontalserifs.Additionally,thelowresolutionofdigitaldisplaysin generalcanmakefinedetailslikeserifsdisappearorappeartoolarge.Beforethe term“sans-serif”becamestandardinEnglishtypography,anumberofotherterms hadbeenused.Oneoftheseoutmodedtermsforsansserifwasgothic,whichisstill usedinEastAsiantypographyandsometimesseeninfontnameslikeCenturyGothic. Sans-seriffontsaresometimes,especiallyinolderdocuments,usedasadevicefor emphasis,duetotheirtypicallyblackertypecolor.(SeeSerif.)

Scale Aproportionusedindeterminingthedimensionalrelationshipofarepresentationto thatwhichitrepresents.Inillustration,it’sadrawingthatshowsarealobjectwith accuratesizesexcepttheyhaveallbeenreducedorenlargedbyacertainamount (calledthescale).Thescaleisshownasthelengthinthedrawing,thenacolon(":"), thenthematchinglengthontherealthing.Example:thisdrawinghasascaleof"1:10", soanythingdrawnwiththesizeof"1"wouldhaveasizeof"10"intherealworld,soa measurementof150mmonthedrawingwouldbe1500mmontherealobject.

Scene Aunitoffilmcomposedofanumberofinterrelatedshots,unifiedusuallybyacentral concern—alocation,incident,orminordramaticclimax.

Screencast Ascreencastisadigitalrecordingofcomputerscreenoutput,oftencontainingaudio narration.

Scripting Language Ascriptinglanguageisaformofprogramminglanguagethatisusuallyinterpreted ratherthancompiled.Conventionalprogramsareconvertedpermanentlyintoexecutable filesbeforetheyarerun.Incontrast,programsinscriptinglanguageareinterpreted onecommandatatime.Scriptinglanguagesareoftenwrittentofacilitateenhanced featuresofwebsites.Thesefeaturesareprocessedontheserverbutthescriptina specificpagerunsontheuser'sbrowser.

Scrubber Panel Adrop-downpanelwithabarwhichallowstheviewerorlistenertocontrolplayback ofasound,movie,ormulti-pagedocument(suchasadigitalmagazineorbook).The barshowstheuserwheretheyareinthetimelineofthedocumenttheyareaccessing andthepaneldisplayselapsedtimeand/orchapterand/orepisodenumberaswell. ScrubberpanelsarefoundonmosthandheldAppleproducts,suchastheiPod andiPad.

Scrum Anagileframeworkforcompletingcomplexprojects.Scrumoriginallywasformalized forsoftwaredevelopmentprojects,butworkswellforanycomplexscopeofwork.

SDK (Software Development Kit) Asetoftoolstohelpprogrammerswritenewapplicationsandinterfacesbasedonan existingsystem.

S

25 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON S

Search Advertising FeesadvertiserspayInternetcompaniestolistand/orlinktheircompanysitetoa specificsearchwordorphrase.

Search Engine AprogramthathelpswebusersfindinformationontheInternet.Themethodfor findingthisinformationisusuallydonebymaintaininganindexofwebresourcesthat canbequeriedforthekeywordorconceptsenteredbytheuser.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) AformofInternetmarketingthatpromoteswebsitesbyincreasingtheirvisibilityin thesearchengineresultpages.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Theprocessofimprovingthevisibilityofawebsiteorawebpageinsearchenginesvia the"natural"orun-paid("organic”—listingsonsearchengineresultspagesthat appearbecauseoftheirrelevancetothesearchterms,asopposedtotheirbeing advertisementsor"algorithmic")searchresults.Otherformsofsearchengine marketing(SeeSEM)targetpaidlistings.Ingeneral,theearlier(orhigheronthe page),andmorefrequentlyasiteappearsinthesearchresultslist,themorevisitors itwillreceivefromthesearchengine.SEOmaytargetdifferentkindsofsearch, includingimagesearch,localsearch,videosearchandindustry-specificvertical searchengines.OptimizingawebsitemayinvolveeditingitscontentandHTMLand associatedcodingtobothincreaseitsrelevancetospecifickeywordsandtoremove barrierstotheindexingactivitiesofsearchengines.Promotingasitetoincreasethe numberofbacklinks,orinboundlinks,isanotherSEOtactic.Theterm"search enginefriendly"maybeusedtodescribewebsitedesigns,menus,contentmanage- mentsystems,images,videos,shoppingcarts,andotherelementsthathavebeen optimizedforthepurposeofsearchengineexposure.

Secondary Navigation Anadditionalnavigationlayerusedinconjunctionwiththeprimarynavigationinorder tonavigatebetweensubpagesofactivesections.

Server-side Referstooperationsthatareperformedbytheserverinaclient–serverrelationship incomputernetworking.Typically,aserverisasoftwareprogram,suchasaweb server,thatrunsonaremoteserver,reachablefromauser'slocalcomputer orworkstation.

Site Map Achart/graphthatshowsthestructureandhierarchyofpageswithinasite.Thisshould includeprimarypages,secondarypages,tertiary,etc.pages,utilities,footernavigation,etc.

Serif, Serifed Typeface Asmall,additionalstrokeorthemainstrokeofaletter.Serifsarethoughttoaddtothe legibilityofprintedtext,becausetheygiveamorenuancedshapetoeachletterform andword.Ontheotherhand,theyareconsideredbysometobelesslegibleonscreen, sincemoredetailcoulddisguisethebasicletterformwhenbacklit(opticallyfillingin). However,thisisaslightlyold-fashionedwayofthinking.Thoughgoodtokeepinmind, itisnotahardrule.

Silkscreen Atypeofprintingwhichusesinkpressedthroughameshscreen.Thescreenisfirst treatedwithanimpermeablecoating.Then,areasofthecoatingareremovedwitha stencil,allowinginktopassthrough.Commercialsilkscreenprintingiscommonfor cloth,plastic,wallpaper,oranyobjectwhichcannotbepassedthrougharegular printingpress,suchasabottleoraDVDdisc.Someartistsenjoyusingsilkscreening forpaperprints,usuallyreleasedasalimitededition.Eachprintisdonebyhandandis thereforeunique.

Site Optimization Modifiesasitetomakeiteasierforsearchenginestoautomaticallyindexthesiteand, ideally,resultsinbettersearchengineplacement.

26 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON S

Skins Customizedandinterchangeablesetsofgraphicswhichallowpeopletocontinually changethelookoftheirdesktopsorbrowsers,withoutchangingtheirsettings orfunctionality.

Skyscraper Atall,narrow,onlineadunit.TheIABguidelinesrecommendtwosizesofskyscrapers: 120× 600and160× 600.

S.M.A.R.T. Aprojectmanagementacronymoftenusedtodefineprojectobjectives: Specific,Measurable,Achievable,Realistic/Relative,Time-bound.

SMS (Short Message Service) Thestandardforsendingandreceivingshort(140charactersorless)textmessagesvia mobilephones.

Small Caps Letterswiththeshapeofanuppercase(capital)letterandthex-heightofalowercase letter(orclosetothex-height).Thepurposeofatextfigureistobedecorativeorto blenduppercaseletters(i.e.,USAorNAFTA)intothesurroundingtext.Smallcaps shouldn’tbeusedinplaceofcapitallettersandtheyshouldnotbefaked(i.e.using asmallerpointsizetomaketheletterlooksmaller).Notalltypefaceshaveasetof smallcaps.Whenlookingforsmallcapsinatypelibrary,theymaybefoundunder “smallcaps”,“SC”,“Oldstylefigures”,“OSF”or“expert”.Unfortunately,thisisnot standardized,soeachtypefacemustbeexaminedseparately.IntheVFSlibrary, thereareseveraltypefacesthatcomewithsmallcaps,includingMeta,Mrs.Eaves andBauerBodoni.

Social Bookmarking SocialbookmarkingisamethodforInternetuserstoshare,organize,search,and managebookmarksofwebresources.Bookmarksareawayforuserstoidentifyand storeawebsiteURLsothatonecanreturntoiteasily.Unlikefilesharing,theresources themselvesaren'tshared,merelybookmarksreferencethem.Thesebookmarksare usuallypublicandcanbesavedprivately,sharedonlywithspecifiedpeopleorgroups, sharedonlyinsidecertainnetworks,oranothercombinationofpublicandprivate domains.Theallowedpeoplecanusuallyviewthesebookmarkschronologically,by categoryortags,orviaasearchengine.

Social Marketing Amarketingtacticthattapsintothegrowthofsocialnetworks,encouragingusersto adoptandpassalongwidgetsorothercontentmodulescreatedbyabrand,ortoadda brandtotheuser’ssocialcircleoffriends.

Social Network Anonlineservice,platformorsitethatfocusesonbuildingandreflectingsocialrelationships amongpeoplewhosharecommoninterestsandactivities.Popularsocialnetworking sitesincludeMySpace,YouTubeandFacebook.

Sphere Athree-dimensionalsurfaceinwhichallpointsareequidistantfromafixedpoint,such asaglobe.

Sponsor Anadvertiserthathasaspecialrelationshipwithawebsiteandsupportsaspecific feature,suchasawriter’scolumnoracollectionofarticlesonaparticularsubject.

Sponsorship Representscustomcontentand/orexperiencescreatedforanadvertiserthatmayor maynotincludeadunits.

Spotlights Custom-builtpagesincorporatinganadvertiser’sbrandandhousingacollectionof contentusuallyaroundatheme.

SQL (Structured Query Language) Acomputerdatabaselanguageusedtorequestormodifyinformationfrom adatabase.

27 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON S

Stack Astackisacomponentofa.issuefile(see“.issuefile”)andisthereforeabasicunit inproducinganeMagazineusingtheViewerappbyAdobefortheiPad.Each.issuefile iscomposedofmultiplestacks.Astackiscomposedof2InDesignfiles—1portraitor “vertical”and1landscapeor“horizontal”file—andaPNGfilewhichisusedtovisually identifythesectionofthemagazineinthetableofcontentsoftheeMagazine.

Storyboard Originally,aseriesofdrawingsthatlayoutthesequenceofscenesinafilm,especially ananimatedone,butnowanysequenceofdrawingsordiagrams,astoillustratethe sequenceofeventswithinvariousmedia.

Streaming AnInternetdatatransfertechniquethatallowstheusertoseeandhearaudioand videofiles.Thesourcecompresses,then“streams”smallpacketsofinformationtothe userwhocanthenaccessthecontentasitisreceived.

SWOT Amethodofanalysisthatcanisolatethekeyrisksthatcouldhaveanimpactonthe (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) successofaproject.Byidentifyingthemainstrengthsoftheproject,thisinturn producesspecificthreatstowardsitsprogress.Itisalsoessentialtospelloutthe assumptionsmadepriortostartingtheanalysisprocess.

Sub-brand Aproductorservicebrandthathasitsownnameandvisualidentitytodifferentiateit fromtheparentbrand.

Superstitals AninterstitialformatdevelopedbyUnicastthatisfullypre-cachedbeforeplaying. Specsare550× 480,upto100kfilesizeandupto20secondsinlength.

Sweepstakes & Contests Alotteryinwhichtheprizeconsistsofthemoneypaidbytheparticipants.InInternet marketing,thesecanrangefromabrandedsweepstakesonasitetoacomplete brandedcontestwithsubmissionsandjudging.

Hey, I’m ready for our

SWOT meeting!

28 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON T

Tag Akeywordordescriptivetermassociatedwithanitemasameansofclassification. Tagsareusuallychoseninformallybytheauthoroftheitem,notaspartofaformally definedclassificationscheme.Theyarealsotypicallyusedindynamic,flexible,auto- maticallygeneratedtaxonomiesforonlineresources,suchascomputerfiles,web pages,digitalimagesandbookmarks.Forthisreason,“tagging”hasbecomeassociated withtheWeb2.0movement.

Target Market Themarketsegmentorgroupofcustomersthatacompanyhasdecidedtoserve,and atwhichitconsequentlyaimsitsmarketingactivities.

Taxonomy Hierarchy(ortree)withatopelement(orroot),dependingonyourpreferenceforTop DownorBottomUpdesign.Nodes(orbranchpoints)arenamesforthings(objects) orconcepts.Inasimpletaxonomy,eachitembeingclassifiedfitsinjustoneplacein thetaxonomy,withasingleparentandanynumberofchildren.

T

I was going to learn

taxonomy but I’m in the wrong tax bracket.

29 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON T

Telephoto Lens, Long Lens, Tele Alenswhichmagnifiesthesizeofobjects/subjectsatagreatdistance.Asignificant sideeffectistendencytoflattenperspective.

Text Figures Thesearealsoknownas“hangingfigures”andsometimesfiledunder“old-style figures”,“OSF”,or“expert”infontlibraries.Textfiguresarenumeralswhichsitat differentpointsonthebaselinetosimulatethemovementoftext.So,inthesameway alowercase“g”hangspartiallybelowthebaseline,whilean“x”sitsrightonthebaseline, thetextfigureofa“3”hangspartiallybelowthebaseline,whilethe“1”sitsrightonthe baseline.Thepurposeoftextfigureistoblendintoabodyoftext.Manycontemporary typefaces,suchasMeta,usetextfiguresasthedefaultandstoreliningfigures(regular numerals)separately.Oldertypefaces,suchasBodoni,useliningfiguresasthedefault andstorethetextfiguresseparately.Unfortunatelythesystemisnotverystandardizedand theonlysolutionistoexamineeachtypefaceseparatelytoseewhichfonthasthetext figures.Seealso“SmallCaps”and“Baseline”.

Tracking Atypographictermwhichmeansuniformlyaddingorreducingtheamountofspace betweeneachletterinawordorlineoftext.“Trackingout”meansaddingspace betweeneachletter.Thisisalsosometimescalled“letterspacing”.Reducingthe amountofspacebetweeneachletteris“trackingin”.Trackingissometimesusedto fittype.Itisalsousedstylistically.Generally,thelegibilityofwordssetinuppercase isincreasedbygeneroustracking.However,thisdamagesthelegibilityofwordssetin lowercase.Therefore,traditionallytypographersfrownontrackingoutlowercasetype. Theexceptionistypeonscreen,whichcanbenefitfrombeinglightlytrackedout(both upper—orlowercasetype).Trackingisnottobeconfusedwithkerning.

Tracking, Tracking Shot Ashottakenfromacameramountedonadollyorothermovingvehicle.“Tracking” canbeusedtodescribedirectionalmovementacrossthe“x”and“z”axesinacomposition andcanbeusedtodescribemovementsatbothvariableandconstantspeeds.

Typeface Thedesignofarepeatablesetofcharacters,oftenincludingthealphabet,numerals andpunctuation.Mosttypefacesareproducedasafamilyofrelatedfonts,commonly includingaromanandanitalic.Mostfamiliesalsocontainmultipleweights,and sometimescondensedandextendedfonts.Forexample,thetypeface“Helvetica”contains thefontsHelveticaLight,HelveticaMedium,HelveticaBold,HelveticaBoldItalicand HelveticaBoldCondensed,etc.

Helvetica Light

Helvetica Medium

Helvetica Bold

Helvetica Bold Italic

Helvetica Bold Condensed

30 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON UV

Unique User Aspecificuserwhoaccessesawebsitewithinaspecifictimeperiodorhas beenserveduniquecontentand/orads,suchase-mail,newsletters,interstitials andpop-underads.Uniqueuserscanbeidentifiedbyuserregistrationorcookies.

Usability thestudyofhoweasyitisforausertoperformtaskswithaproductorservice.Itattempts toquantify"easeofuse"and"userfriendliness"byUserTesting.

Utilities (Page Utilities) Pageutilitiesareelementsthatcanbefoundoneverypageofasite.(i.e.,Search,Login,etc.). Theseshouldbedescribedinthesitemapandwireframedocuments.

USP (Unique Selling Proposition) Everyprofessional,product,person,andideahasadifferentiatedpositioning.Itsets youapartformothersandithighlightsyouruniqueskills,philosophy,experience, talentandadvantagesthatothersmaynothave.Itshouldalwaysberelevanttoyour audience,employersorcustomers

Vanishing Point Thepointatwhichparallellinesrecedingfromanobserverseemtocoverge,and, consequently,wherethingsdisappearofseeminglyceasetoexist.

Viral Marketing Anyadvertisingthatpropagatesitself.Viralmarketingspreadsbygettingpassedon fromconsumertoconsumerandmarkettomarket.

Viral Video Onlinevideoclips(oftenshortandhumorous)thatarepassedvialinksfromoneperson toanother.

Virtual Worlds Three-dimensionalcomputerizedenvironmentsthatmultipleuserscanexploreand interactwithviaavatars.Thetermisoftenusedtodefineservicesthatareopen-ended andgearedforsocializingasopposedtothemoregoal-orientedenvironmentsof onlinegames.

Visual Identity Theaestheticaspectsofabrandincluding,amongotherthings,itslogo,typography, packagingandliteraturesystems.

Vlog Avideo-basedblog.Entriesaremaderegularlyandoftencombineembeddedvideos withsupportingtext,imagesandotherdata.

Voice Over, V/O Aproductiontechniquewhereavoicewhichisnotpartofthenarrativeisusedina radio,television,film,theatre,orotherpresentation.Thevoice-overmaybespoken bysomeonewhoappearselsewhereintheproductionorbyaspecialistvoiceactor. Avoiceovermayalsobeusedtoindicatethethoughtsofacharacterinascenewhen thecharacterisnotspeaking.

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31 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON W

Waterfall Model Asequentialdesignprocess,oftenusedinsoftwaredevelopmentprocesses,inwhich progressisseenasflowingsteadilydownwards(likeawaterfall)throughthephasesof Concepting,Initiation,Analysis,Design,Development,TestingandMaintenance.

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) Anopen,internationalstandardforapplicationlayernetworkcommunicationsina wirelesscommunicationenvironment.Itsmainuseistoenableaccesstothemobile webfromacellphoneorPDA.AWAPbrowserprovidesallofthebasicservicesofa computer-basedwebbrowser,butsimplifiesittooperatewithintherestrictionsof amobilephone,suchasitssmallerviewscreen.

Web 2.0 AsupposedsecondgenerationofInternet-basedservicesthatletpeoplecollaborate andshareinformationonlineinperceivednewways—suchassocialnetworkingsites, wikisandcommunicationtools.

Web Browser Asoftwareapplicationforretrieving,presenting,andtraversinginformationresources ontheWorldWideWeb.PopularwebbrowsersincludeMicrosoftInternetExplorer, MozillaFirefoxandGoogleChrome.

Web Hosting AwebhostingserviceisatypeofInternethostingservicethatallowsindividualsand organizationstomaketheirownwebsiteaccessibleviatheWorldWideWeb

Wide Angle Lens, Short Lens Alenswhichpermitsthecameratophotographawiderareathananormallens. Asignificantsideeffectisitstendencytoexaggerateperspective.Alsousedfordeep- focusphotography.

Widget AsmallapplicationdesignedtoresideonaPCdesktop(MacOSXorWindowsVista)or withinaweb-basedportal(iGoogle)orsocialnetworkingsite(e.g.,MySpaceor Facebook)thatoffersusefulorentertainingfunctionalitytotheenduser.

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Vacation is awesome!! Let’s go get a drink at

the wiki hut.

32 VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON WXZ

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Wiki Atypeofwebsitethatallowsuserstoeasilyadd,remove,orotherwiseeditand changeavailablecontent—sometimeswithouttheneedforregistration.Thiseaseof interactionandoperationmakesawikianeffectivetoolforcollaborativeauthoring.

Wireframes Theblueprintrepresentationofawebsite,webapplicationorsoftwareapplication.This documentshouldincludeallfunctionalrequirementsforeachpageandshouldalso includetechnicalnotes.

Xcode AnIDE,orIntegratedDevelopmentEnvironment,producedbyApple.IDEaimsto integratetheexperienceofeditingofsourcecode,frombuildtodebugging, withoutleavingtheviewoftheunderlyingsourcecode.

Zoom Lens Alensofvariablefocallengthwhichpermitsthecameramantochangefromwide angletotelephotoshots(andviceversa)inonecontinuousmovement.

3G The“ThirdGeneration”mobilenetworkinfrastructure.Asof2007,itwasdeployed bymobileoperatorsinmostofEurope,EastAsiaandNorthAmerica.3Gsupports muchhigherdataspeedsthanpreviousmobilenetworks,insomecasesapproaching wiredbroadbandconnections.

4G The“FourthGeneration”ofcellularwirelessstandards.Itisasuccessortothe2Gand 3Gfamiliesofstandards.Thenomenclatureofthegenerationsgenerallyreferstoa changeinthefundamentalnatureoftheservice,non-backwardscompatibletransmission technologyandnewfrequencybands.

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APPENDIX

VFS DIGITAL DESIGN LEXICON

APPENDIX VFS Terms

Program Theentire1year(48weeks)collectionofcourses.

Class Thegroupofstudentsattendingaparticularcourse/lesson.

Course The7weekcollectionoflessons/exercisesfocusedononetopic.

Lesson The3hoursessionthatmakesup1/7thofacourse(i.e.,coursesaretypically7lessonslong).

CompendiumCompendiumisatransmediaiPadmagazineproducedbyVFSEntertainmentBusinessManagement.Itisamulti-disci-plinarycollaborationacrossallprogramsthattypicallyinvolvesover120students,facultyandalumni.TheproceedsofthesaleoftheCompendiumappbenefitWikimedia,aninternational,non-profitorganizationdedicatedtoencouragingthegrowthanddevelopmentoffreecontent,multilingual,wiki-basedprojects.

Credits

ManythankstoWikipedia,TheFreeDictionaryandourfacultyforcompilingthetermsanddefinitionsinthislexicon.SpecialthankstoMyronCampbellforhiswonderfulillustrations(drawbynight.notsosimpleton.com)andRobinMitchell-Cranfieldforheramazinggraphicdesign(hundredsandthousands.com).

TheVFSDigitalDesignLexicon,Version1,PublishedMay,2011.