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Graphic Design vocabulary · Typography

Headline

Meaning in graphic design, with examples

/ˈhɛdlaɪn/nounCore term

In graphic design, headline means: The main line of large text at the top of an advert, article, poster or web page, written and designed to catch attention first.

In Turkish: başlık, manşet, ana başlık

How it is used

Used by designers, copywriters and editors. A headline is written by the copywriter and set, styled or sized by the designer; smaller supporting lines are subheadings or subheads.

Example sentences

  1. The headline is too long for the billboard; can the copywriter cut it to five words?

  2. Make the headline bigger and move the logo to the bottom corner.

Common collocations

  • write a headline
  • headline font
  • catchy headline
  • headline and subhead
  • body copyThe main, longer text of a design, such as paragraphs in a brochure or article, as opposed to headlines, captions and other short text.
  • visual hierarchyThe order in which people notice and read the parts of a design, created with size, colour, contrast, position and spacing, so the most important message is seen first.
  • font weightHow thick or thin the strokes of a font are, from thin and light through regular and medium to bold and black.
  • typographyThe art and skill of choosing and arranging letters so that text is easy to read and looks right: the choice of typefaces, sizes, spacing and line length.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Typography

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