Andalusia PAU Design key terms

German school active 1919-1933 that merged craft and industrial production, teaching form, colour and materials through a preliminary course and workshop practice; its functionalist approach shaped modern graphic and product design.

Design principle holding that form should follow use, so that an object's shape, materials and construction are justified by its function rather than by ornament alone.

Broad twentieth-century movement favouring simplification, geometric order, new industrial materials and standardisation, often linked to mass production and to ideas of social improvement.

German design school founded 1953 that systematised design teaching around science, semiotics and methodology, strongly influencing product design and corporate identity in Europe.

British movement led by William Morris that rejected poor-quality industrial goods and defended handcraft, honest materials and the dignity of the maker, anticipating later debates on design ethics.

Around 1890-1910, a decorative style across Europe using flowing organic lines, asymmetry and craft detail, applied to posters, furniture, jewellery and architecture.

In Spain, the local variant of Art Nouveau, especially strong in Catalonia in architecture and graphic arts, combining organic ornament with craft-based production.

Dutch movement from 1917 using primary colours, black, white and rectangular grids to express universal harmony; its rigour influenced typography, layout and abstract visual language.

Russian avant-garde current after 1917 that treated art as production, using bold diagonals, photomontage and sans-serif type for political posters and utilitarian objects.

Modular grid of columns, margins and baselines used to organise elements on a page or screen, giving consistent alignment, rhythm and hierarchy across a layout.

Arrangement of visual elements within a format so that they relate to each other, balancing weight, scale, direction and spacing to guide the viewer's reading.

Ordering of elements by importance using size, contrast, colour, position or spacing, so the viewer reads the message in the intended sequence.

Apparent heaviness of an element in a composition, produced by its size, darkness, saturation, isolation or detail; balancing weights creates stability or tension.

Empty or inactive area around and between elements; used deliberately, it separates content, reduces clutter and gives forms room to be perceived clearly.

Perceived difference between two elements in tone, colour, size, texture or orientation; it creates emphasis, improves discrimination and helps separate figure from background.

Body of knowledge about colour mixing, relationships and effects, including hue, value and saturation, complementary and analogous schemes, and simultaneous contrast.

Circular diagram arranging hues by their mixing relationships; it helps identify complementary pairs, analogous groups and triads when building a colour scheme.

Pleasant, coherent relationship among the colours of a design, often achieved through shared hue families, balanced values or a dominant-accent scheme.

Additive colour mixes light with primary red, green and blue, producing white at full intensity; subtractive colour mixes pigments or inks with cyan, magenta and yellow, producing darker results.

Proprietary standardised colour matching system in which each reference identifies a specific ink or substrate colour, allowing consistent reproduction across printers and materials.

Art and technique of selecting, setting and arranging type, covering typeface choice, size, spacing, alignment and the relation of text to page or screen.

Adjustment of space between individual pairs of characters to correct optical gaps, so that combinations such as AV or To look evenly spaced.

Vertical distance between successive baselines of text; too tight a setting crowds lines, too loose a setting breaks reading flow, especially in long passages.

Ease with which text can be read and distinguished, depending on typeface design, size, contrast, spacing, line length and viewing conditions.

Printed or displayed poster combining image and type to communicate a message at distance; it relies on strong hierarchy, quick reading and high visual impact.

System of signs, pictograms and wayfinding cues that guides people through a space, requiring consistency, legibility, contrast and clear placement decisions.

Simplified graphic symbol representing an object, action or place through essential features only, used where language barriers or distance make text impractical.

Image that resembles what it represents, recognised through visual similarity; in interfaces it usually needs a label or learned convention to be unambiguous.

Study of signs and how meaning is produced; in design it analyses icons, indexes and symbols, and how users interpret colour, form and typography in context.

Coherent system of visual and verbal elements, such as logo, typography, colour and tone of voice, that makes an organisation recognisable and consistent across media.

Document specifying how an identity system must be applied, defining logo versions, clear space, colour values, typefaces and misuse rules for consistent reproduction.

Technique of combining photographic fragments, often cut and reassembled, into a new image that creates meaning through juxtaposition, scale and context.

Composition made by pasting together found materials such as paper, photographs or fabric, used in ideation and final art to generate unexpected combinations of texture and image.

Quick freehand drawing used to explore and communicate ideas early in a project, prioritising overall form, proportion and layout over finish.

Preliminary physical or digital version of a design built to test function, ergonomics, materials or interaction before production, refined through successive iterations.

Structured sequence of design work, typically briefing, research and analysis, ideation, prototyping, testing and evaluation, used to make decisions traceable and repeatable.

Client or project document setting out objectives, target users, constraints, budget, deadlines and success criteria, forming the reference against which proposals are judged.

Approach that bases design decisions on observed user needs, tasks and context, validating them through testing with real people rather than assumptions.

Study of the fit between people and products or environments, covering body dimensions, posture, reach, force and perception to reduce strain and error.

Measurement of human body dimensions and ranges of motion, providing percentile data used to size furniture, tools, controls and workspaces for real populations.

Degree to which a product can be used effectively, efficiently and satisfactorily by its intended users for its intended tasks in a given context.

Condition of a design that can be perceived, understood and operated by people with diverse abilities, including visual, auditory, motor and cognitive differences.

Principle of designing products and environments usable by as many people as possible without adaptation, covering equitable use, flexibility, simple operation and tolerance of error.

Design approach that limits environmental impact across a product's life cycle through material choice, energy use, durability, repairability, recyclability and reduced waste.

Integration of environmental criteria into every stage of design, aiming to reduce resource use, emissions and waste while maintaining function and quality.

Method that quantifies environmental impacts of a product from raw material extraction through production, distribution, use and end of life.

Practice of designing products with a deliberately limited useful life or difficult repair, shortening replacement cycles and increasing resource consumption and waste.

Production of objects by hand or with simple tools, where the maker's skill shapes each piece; valued for quality, local materials and small-scale, low-impact output.

Surface quality perceived through touch or sight, such as rough, smooth, matte or glossy; it affects material perception, grip, cleaning and visual weight.

Substances used to make products, chosen for properties such as strength, weight, flexibility, cost, finish and environmental impact, and for how they can be joined and recycled.