As designers, many of us think we’re just visual creatures. But creating visuals is only half of the job. The other half is verbal communication — actually talking about design. Whether we’re showcasing our own work, giving or receiving critiques, pitching to a client, or trying to understand a brand’s visual language, it’s so important that we have the vocabulary to communicate effectively.

作为设计师，我们许多人认为我们只是视觉上的生物。 但是创建视觉效果仅是工作的一半。 另一半是口头交流，实际上是在谈论设计。 无论我们是展示自己的作品，给予或接受评论，与客户推销还是试图理解品牌的视觉语言，拥有有效沟通的词汇量都至关重要。

Lately, I’ve noticed the same words used to describe design over and over again, and I know I’m not the only one. There’s a running joke among designers about how clients always say “make it pop!” It’s a common frustration because “make it pop” is very arbitrary and it essentially carries no meaning anymore.

最近，我注意到一遍又一遍地描述设计的词语，而且我知道我并不是唯一的一个。 设计师之间经常开玩笑说客户总是说“让它流行！” 这是一个普遍的挫败感，因为“使其流行”是非常武断的，并且基本上不再具有任何意义。

Our clients aren’t the only ones who default to overused words without much thought. I see it all the time from designers and I’m totally guilty of it myself. So I wanted to take some time to really think about a few trite descriptors and find better, more effective ones.

并非只有客户会不加思索地默认使用过多的单词。 我一直都从设计师那里看到它，而我自己对此完全感到内gui。 因此，我想花一些时间来真正考虑一些陈旧的描述符，并找到更好，更有效的描述符。

I think of it like I’m developing my vocabulary toolbox.

我觉得这就像我在开发词汇工具箱一样。

胆大 (Bold)

Right off the bat, this word is a doozy. Bold could mean so many different things. It could refer to a heavy typeface, a high contrast in color, making an element HUGE on the page. Or it could take on a conceptual, personified meaning, making the design feel fearless or unapologetic.

马上，这个词是个笨拙的词。 粗体可能意味着很多不同的东西。 它可能指的是较重的字体，较高的颜色对比度，从而使页面上的元素很大。 或者它可以具有概念上的，拟人化的含义，从而使设计感到无所畏惧或毫无歉意。

Let’s look at some alternatives that can help us dig deeper into what a design is actually communicating.

让我们看一些替代方案，这些替代方案可以帮助我们更深入地了解设计实际传达的内容。

引人注目 (Striking)

attractive; impressive; noticeable; conspicuous

吸引力 令人印象深刻 显; 显眼的

Something that is striking calls attention to itself because it’s a little different than you’d expect it to be.

令人震惊的事情引起了人们对自身的关注，因为它与您期望的有所不同。

几何 (Geometric)

resembling or employing the simple rectilinear or curvilinear lines or figures used in geometry

类似于或采用几何中使用的简单直线或曲线或图形

Geometric design is pretty easy to spot. Its perfect lines and curves usually help a design to stand out and give it a sense of movement.

几何设计非常容易发现。 其完美的线条和曲线通常可以帮助设计脱颖而出，并赋予其运动感。

生动 (Vivid)

bright or intense, as color, light, etc.; full of life; lively; animated

明亮的或强烈的，如颜色，光线等； 充满生机; 活泼; 动画的

Vivid is almost always associated with bright, almost fluorescent colors. The kind of colors that can only exist on screens or via spot color printing.

鲜艳几乎总是与明亮，几乎是荧光的颜色相关。 只能在屏幕上或通过专色打印存在的一种颜色。

诚实 (Honest)

sincere; frank; genuine or unadulterated

真诚; 坦率; 货真价实

Honest, no-nonsense, unapologetic design also falls under the category of bold.

诚实，无废话，无歉意的设计也属于大胆类别。

清洁 (Clean)

Clean might be one of the most boring words in a designer’s vocabulary. No, white space does NOT make a design boring, but as designers we know there’s usually an underlying reason to have ample negative space. We have to look a little closer and see what the deeper value is that we’re trying to communicate. Let’s look at a few specific tone words that fall under this umbrella.

清洁可能是设计师词汇中最无聊的单词之一。 不，空白不会使设计变得无聊，但是作为设计师，我们知道通常有一个充分的理由来拥有足够大的负空间。 我们必须稍微靠近一点，看看我们试图交流的更深层的价值。 让我们看一下这个伞下的一些特定的语气词。

奥斯特 (Austere)

severe or strict in manner, attitude, or appearance

态度，态度或外表严格或严格

Austere design stays in the lines, uses a grid, and follows the rules to a tee without much flexibility.

严谨的设计留在生产线中，使用网格，并遵循规则到发球台，没有太大的灵活性。

纯 (Pure)

not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material

不得与任何其他物质或材料混合或掺假

I think of pure design as having no excess design elements, lots of negative space, and usually a light, natural color palette.

我认为纯设计没有多余的设计元素，没有很多消极空间，而且通常是浅自然的调色板。

斯塔克 (Stark)

severe or bare in appearance or outline

外观或轮廓严重或裸露

I usually relate this to the phrase “stark white,” but a stark design doesn’t always have to be white. Either way, there is lots of negative space and simple shapes or layouts.

我通常将其与“纯白”一词联系起来，但是纯净的设计并不一定总是白色。 无论哪种方式，都有大量的负空间和简单的形状或布局。

精制 (Refined)

with impurities or unwanted elements having been removed

去除了杂质或不需要的元素

I think of refined as polished, elevated and potentially upscale. It’s not quite as minimalistic as the previous three. There can still be lots of elements on the page, but they are organized and tidy.

我认为精炼是经过抛光，提升和潜在的高档化。 它不像前三个一样简单。 页面上仍然可以有很多元素，但是它们是有条理和整洁的。

年份酒 (Vintage)

This is a word that I’m guilty of over-using. Design trends from yesteryear are definitely having a moment and there’s nothing wrong with using vintage-inspired techniques and styles. But vintage is a very broad term, so let’s try to differentiate between some of the different visual tones we could be seeing or applying in a given design piece.

这是我过度使用的罪名。 过去的设计趋势肯定是片刻，使用复古风格的技术和风格也没有错。 但是vintage是一个非常宽泛的术语，因此让我们尝试区分给定设计作品中可能看到或应用的某些不同视觉色调。

怀旧的 (Nostalgic)

wistful, evocative, emotional about the past

对过去的渴望，回味，情感

I think nostalgic when I see lots of textures and image-making styles from the past: stippling effects, grain shading, halftones… basically everything made with True Grit.

当我看到过去的许多纹理和图像制作样式时，我会感到怀旧：点画效果，纹理阴影，半色调……基本上是使用True Grit制作的所有内容。

经典 (Classic)

judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind

在一段时间内被认为是同类产品中质量最高，最出色的

No one even said the words Coca Cola and you already knew what that image was from. Classic design is timeless, memorable, and revered.

甚至没有人说可口可乐一词，您已经知道该图像的来源。 经典的设计历久弥新，令人难忘，备受推崇。

华丽的 (Ornate)

made in an intricate shape or decorated with complex patterns

制成复杂的形状或装饰有复杂的图案

Ornate design is easy to spot. The most recognizable example is in typography — think drop caps.

华丽的设计很容易发现。 最容易辨认的例子是排版-想想大写字母。

好玩 (Fun)

Okay. To me, most of design is fun. I’m a designer. Fun doesn’t really give us much to go off of. Let’s think of a few words that are a lot more fun than fun.

好的。 对我来说， 大多数设计都很有趣。 我是设计师 乐趣并没有给我们带来太多帮助。 让我们考虑几个有趣的词。

青春的 (Youthful)

having lived or existed for only a short time

只是活了很短一段时间

Youthful design is lively, childlike, innocent, and perhaps a bit naive

青春的设计活泼，童趣，天真，也许有点天真

偏心 (Eccentric)

unconventional and slightly strange

非常规的，有点奇怪

Eccentric is quirky and endearing. A lot of times we see this in either illustration style or messaging tone.

怪癖是古怪而讨人喜欢的。 很多时候，我们以插图样式或消息形式看到了这一点。

不敬 (Irreverent)

showing a lack of respect for people or things that are generally taken seriously

表现出缺乏对通常被认真对待的人或事物的尊重

The definition is fairly negative, but I like to think of irreverent design as cheeky and brazen in an endearing way.

这个定义是相当否定的，但我喜欢将不敬虔的设计视为讨人喜欢的厚脸皮。

审美的 (Aesthetic)

The word aesthetic used as an adjective really grinds my gears and if you were born before 2005 it probably makes your ears bleed too. The definition of aesthetic as a noun is ‘a set of principles underlying and guiding the work of a particular artist or artistic movement.’ It doesn’t describe a particular style or feeling, so when you use it as an adjective it’s very ambiguous. Here are a few words that I find to be more meaningful.

用作形容词的美学一词确实磨碎了我的齿轮，如果您在2005年之前出生，它可能也会使您的耳朵流血。 审美作为名词的定义是“一组基础，指导着特定艺术家或艺术运动的工作”。 它没有描述特定的风格或感觉，因此当您将其用作形容词时，它会非常模棱两可。 这里有一些我觉得更有意义的词。

穆迪 (Moody)

(of a person) given to unpredictable changes of mood, especially sudden bouts of gloominess

(一个人的)情绪无法预测的变化，尤其是突然的昏暗情绪

Moody is most obvious in photography. Usually it conveys a dark mood, signified by dark lighting and sullen subject matter. Even outside of photography, you can say “moody” by using low-contrasting colors and subdued typefaces.

穆迪在摄影中最为明显。 通常，它传达出一种黑暗的情绪，以黑暗的灯光和阴沉的主题为代表。 即使在摄影之外，您也可以使用低对比度的颜色和柔和的字体说“喜怒无常”。

艺术的 (Artistic)

showing creative skill or taste

展现创造力或品味

Usually artistic design feels hand-rendered and creative. Even if it is ultimately digital, it exhibits characteristics of more traditional art and techniques.

通常，艺术设计让人感觉是手工渲染和创意。 即使最终是数字化的，它也表现出更多传统艺术和技术的特征。

浪漫 (Romantic)

conducive to or characterized by the expression of love

有利于或以爱为特征的

In a less literal sense, I think of romantic design as alluring, charming and expressive. I see it a lot in editorial design & photography. But curvy, high-contrast typography can also be romantic.

从不太真实的意义上讲，我认为浪漫的设计是诱人的，迷人的和富有表现力的。 我在社论设计和摄影中看到很多。 但是弯曲的，高对比度的版式也可能很浪漫。

豪华 (Luxurious)

extremely comfortable, elegant, or enjoyable, especially in a way that involves great expense

非常舒适，优雅或令人愉悦，尤其是在涉及大量费用的方式上

Usually, luxurious design gives off an air of seriousness. It has either deep jewel tones or organic color palettes and the typography tends to be fairly thin and delicate.

通常，豪华的设计散发出严肃的气氛。 它具有深沉的宝石色调或有机调色板，并且字体往往相当薄且精致。

These are my ideas and interpretations based on personal experience and some research, but words will never hit people the same exact way. That’s what’s kind of remarkable about language — we attach so much individual “baggage” to vocabulary and so the visuals that pop into our heads when we hear a certain word are slightly different from person-to-person.

这些是我根据个人经验和一些研究得出的想法和解释，但是言语永远不会以完全相同的方式打人。 这就是语言的非凡之处-我们在词汇表上附加了很多个人“包bag”，因此当我们听到某个单词时，突然出现在我们脑海中的视觉效果因人而异。

But that being said, I think this is a great starting point to practice using more meaningful words when talking about design. I hope this inspires you to start building your own vocabulary toolbox. And next time you go to comment on another designer’s work, try to spend a little extra time crafting a thoughtful remark. Words matter!

但是，话虽如此，我认为这是在谈论设计时练习使用更有意义的词语的一个很好的起点。 我希望这能激发您开始建立自己的词汇工具箱的灵感。 下次当您对另一位设计师的作品发表评论时，请尝试花费一些额外的时间来精心考虑。 话语很重要！