Vignette

v. describe a scene or a person in a brief elegant fashion; make the edges of a picture fade gently into the background

n. brief elegant characterization of a scene or a person (in written, musical, or dramatic form); picture that fades at the edges without a defined border; decorative illustration in various places in a book (e.g. beginning or end of a chapter)

The word Vignette, from the same root as vine, originally referred to a decorative border in a book. Later, the word also came to be used for a photographic portrait which is clear in the center, and fades off at the edges, and also short descriptive literature focusing on a particular moment or person. The other uses below are mostly derived from these:Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs usually in books to separate sections or chaptersVignette (packaging design), a decoration technique to add colorful customization, company logo or variable data to a presentation package. Typically vignettes are made of metal or a polymer material and digitally printed in 4 color process.Vignetting in photography, any process by which there is loss in clarity towards the corners and sides of an imageVignette (literature), short, impressionistic scenes that focus on one moment or give a particular insight into a character, idea, or settingVignette (architecture), small views or pictures which display what's going on in certain areas of a drawing, and they can be rendered or sketchedVignette (professional wrestling), a piece of video footage, featuring characters or events, shown to the audience for entertainment or edificationVignette (road tax), a small, coloured sticker affixed to motor vehicles in some European nations to indicate road tolls have been paidVignette (software), a commercial software content management system, portal and collaboration tools companyVignette (vineyard), a vineyard in viticultureVignette (adult entertainment), these movie or photo themes offer the same sexual excitement and energy as main stream adult entertainment, but are less explicit. This theme is for those who like watching couples and exploring deep sexual fantasies, but don't like the focus on extreme action.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Noun
1. a brief literary description
(synonym) sketch
(hypernym) description
2. a photograph whose edges shade off gradually
(hypernym) photograph, photo, exposure, pic
3. a small illustrative sketch (as sometimes placed at the beginning of chapters in books)
(hypernym) sketch, study

n. vignette, ornamental design for book

n. headpiece, vignette; thumbnail, small picture which represents a larger and more detailed picture (Computers)