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Explore the dictionary by design domain and category. Pick a group to list every curated term it holds.
Graphic design
UI / UX
Visual effects · Graphic design
22 terms
- bevel and emboss
An effect that adds fake highlights and shadows along an element's edges so it looks raised or carved, giving a 3D chiselled feel.
- bloom
A soft overspill of light around the brightest parts of an image, making highlights glow and bleed into nearby areas.
- chromatic aberration
A colour-fringing effect where edges split into red/cyan or blue/red offsets, imitating a camera lens that fails to focus all colours on the same spot.
- double exposure
A blend of two images layered into one, so a silhouette such as a face is filled with a second image such as a forest.
- drop shadow
A soft or hard shadow placed behind an element so it looks like it is floating slightly above the surface.
- film grain
A layer of fine speckled texture added to an image to mimic the look of old photographic film.
- gaussian blur
A smooth, even softening of an image that blends detail into a haze, named after the mathematical curve used to spread the blur.
- glassmorphism
A UI style where panels look like frosted glass — a blurred, semi-transparent surface that lets the colours behind it show through faintly.
- glitch
A stylised effect that mimics digital errors — torn scan lines, shifted colour channels, and blocky displacement — to look broken or futuristic on purpose.
- gradient
A smooth blend from one colour (or shade) to another across a shape or background.
- gradient map
An effect that recolours an image by replacing its shadows-to-highlights range with the colours of a chosen gradient.
- inner shadow
A shadow drawn inside the edges of a shape so it looks carved into or pressed below the surface.
- lens flare
Bright streaks, rings, or star-shaped glints that mimic light bouncing inside a camera lens when it points near a strong light source.
- long shadow
A flat, hard-edged shadow that stretches far off an icon or letter at a 45-degree angle, popular in flat design.
- motion blur
A directional smear applied to an element so it looks like it is moving fast.
- neon glow
A bright, saturated glow around text or shapes that mimics the light of a neon or LED sign, usually on a dark background.
- neumorphism
A soft, minimal UI style where buttons and cards appear to gently push out of or sink into a single-coloured background, using paired light and dark shadows.
- outer glow
A soft halo of light or colour that spreads outward evenly from the edges of an element.
- posterize
An effect that reduces an image to a small number of flat colour or tone steps, removing smooth blends for a bold, banded poster look.
- reflection
A mirrored, fading copy of an element placed below it, as if it were sitting on a glossy surface.
- scanlines
Thin, evenly spaced horizontal lines laid over an image to mimic the look of an old CRT television or monitor screen.
- tilt-shift
A selective-blur effect that keeps a narrow strip in focus and blurs the rest, making a full-size scene look like a tiny toy model.