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11:04 Dec 1, 2011
French to English translations [PRO] Marketing - Printing & Publishing / brand guidelines
French term or phrase:texte de respiration
Explanation in the text (brand guidelines):
"des phrases plus ludiques qui viennent apporter de la respiration"
According to the customer, this is:
"par rapport à une mise en page graphique, entre les titres et les images le texte s'inscrit lisiblement sur le blanc de la page"
But I am struggling to find the exact term in English. They are stand-alone comments or phrases which are in a different font to the rest of the text.
A blurb is used in an ad or an article to catch the reader's attention by using, as the Asker says, " slogans, quotes, catchlines, a variety of things," to embody the message of the ad. In this way, perhaps, the text of a blurb "breathes life" into an ad (as the wording of the ST suggests) by encapsulating the ad’s meaning and drawing a reader to it.
In a layout, a blurb (also called a deck) is set apart from the other elements in two ways: (1) by being placed between the headline and the body of the text and (2) by using a font size somewhere between that of the headline and the body of the text. These formatting characteristics are in line with the formatting requirements provided in the source text and by the Asker.
I'm not sure it is blurb here, as blurb is generally longer (according to the definition you provided too). In the end I used "stand-alone text" as it worked in the context. Also your answer came after I had sent the job off, but it would have been worth considering, although didn't come up in any of the searches I made. 2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
I think SJLD is right. It is concerning the layout ("breathing room" "white space" "exclusion zone" - the last referring to the space around logos and straplines).
Sorry, I've been out. There really isn't a lot more context I'm afraid, without showing you the thing! This might help:
"Une typographie manuscrite s’adjoint à la typographie courante pour incarner le message. Elle est obligatoirement utilisée pour des phrases plus ludiques qui viennent apporter de la respiration et les grands titres."
So, it is text which is not a title or running text. They are slogans, quotes, catchlines, a variety of things that 'break up' the text. It'll come to me (I hope)... thanks for comments.
What this sounds like to me is the fairly widespread practice of assuming that the reader has the attention span of a flea and can only read through to the end if given a break in the form of a light-hearted short phrase, easily legible because printed in >40 pt font in the middle of an otherwise blank page. Graphic effect and communication style of the text work together.
that the "ludique" points to "respiration" as referring to the style of the writing and its upbeat effect, rather than a graphics issue. But maybe the "ludique" is meant to refer to a more "fun" font style?
The customer's explanation doesn't seem to square with the mention of "ludique", which implies "light relief" amid more serious text. But could we have the full French context please - half a sentence isn't enough.
A blurb is used in an ad or an article to catch the reader's attention by using, as the Asker says, " slogans, quotes, catchlines, a variety of things," to embody the message of the ad. In this way, perhaps, the text of a blurb "breathes life" into an ad (as the wording of the ST suggests) by encapsulating the ad’s meaning and drawing a reader to it.
In a layout, a blurb (also called a deck) is set apart from the other elements in two ways: (1) by being placed between the headline and the body of the text and (2) by using a font size somewhere between that of the headline and the body of the text. These formatting characteristics are in line with the formatting requirements provided in the source text and by the Asker.
Hal D'Arpini Local time: 15:18 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 2
Grading comment
I'm not sure it is blurb here, as blurb is generally longer (according to the definition you provided too). In the end I used "stand-alone text" as it worked in the context. Also your answer came after I had sent the job off, but it would have been worth considering, although didn't come up in any of the searches I made.
The translation workplace 
