“the designer’s LEXICON”

About two years ago a designer friend of mine introduced me to the book:  the designer’s LEXICON: The Illustrated Dictionary of Design, Printing, and Computer Terms, by Alastair Campbell. I was immediately enthralled. 


I have a B.S. degree in Graphic Design, and a M.F.A. degree in Art with an emphasis in Graphic Design, so I have studied quite extensively on the topic, however, this book continues to make me aware of how little I actually know. The “Lexicon” is full of random, and funny, terms and word that were often used in the industry back-in-the-day. The book also give definitions of words that we often use in the industry, but may be unaware of the origin. Every time I open the book I learn something new, for instance, I was flipping through the pages and came across the typographic term “Mump”. Funny word—have any guesses as to what it means? I know I had never heard the word before. This got me to thinking, maybe the readers of this blog would enjoy learning some of the “old” terms. So, I have decided to post a “Word-of-the-week”. I will post at least one word, and it’s definition, from the “Lexicon” each week. This week we will start with the word “Mump”, and I challenge you to try to use it throughout the week.

Mump — A typesetting term, meaning to move or copy fonts from one establishment to another (usually unauthorized). The term originally referred  to moving hot metal matrices, and is still used today with reference to digitized fonts. Mump probably derives from the old     Dutch word mompen, meaning to cheat.

—the designer’s LEXICON: The Illustrated Dictionary of Design, Printing, and Computer Terms, by Alastair Campbell, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, © 2000, pg.175

 My advice to my students this week is: Don’t be a Mumper.