Vignette

Origin

French, from Middle French vignete, from diminutive of vigne vine

• 1611

Definitions

• 1: a running ornament (as of vine leaves, tendrils, and grapes) put on or just before a title page or at the beginning or end of a chapter; also : a small decorative design or picture so placed
• 2a : a picture (as an engraving or photograph) that shades off gradually into the surrounding paper

b : the pictorial part of a postage stamp design as distinguished from the frame and lettering

• 3a : a short descriptive literary sketch

b : a brief incident or scene (as in a play or movie)

Description

Vignettes, in graphic design, are decorative designs usually in books, used both to separate sections or chapters and to decorate borders.

In Descriptive, or Analytical Bibliography for the hand-press period (ca. 1450 to 1800) a vignette refers to an engraved design printed using a copper-plate press, on a page that has already been printed on using a letter press (Printing press). Vignettes are sometimes distinguished from other in-text illustrations printed on a copper-plate press by the fact that they do not have a border; such designs usually appear on title-pages only.

Woodcuts, which are printed on a letter press and are also used to separate sections or chapters are identified as a headpiece, tailpiece or printer's ornament, depending on shape and position.

In theatrical script writing, sketch stories, and poetry, a vignette is a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, idea, setting, or object. This type of scene is more common in recent postmodern theater, where less emphasis is placed on adhering to the conventions of theatrical structure and story development. Vignettes have been particularly influenced by contemporary notions of a scene as shown in film, video and television scripting.[1]