RULES OF TYPOGRAPHY (In concurrence)...
RULES OF TYPOGRAPHY
All-caps text—meaning text with all the letters capitalized—is best used sparingly.
At body text sizes, capital letters—or simply caps—are harder to read than normal lowercase text. Why? We read more lowercase text, so as a matter of habit, lowercase is more familiar and thus more legible. Furthermore, cognitive research has suggested that the shapes of lowercase letters—some tall (dhkl), some short (aens), some descending (gypq)—create a varied visual contour that helps our brain recognize words. Capitalization homogenizes these shapes, leaving a rectangular contour.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use caps. Just use them judiciously. Caps are suitable for headings shorter than one line (e.g., “Table of Contents”), headers, footers, captions, or other labels. Caps work at small point sizes. Caps work well on letterhead and business cards.
BUT DON’T CAPITALIZE WHOLE PARAGRAPHS. THIS HABIT ORIGINATED WITH LAWYERS AND HAS INFECTED SOCIETY AT LARGE. THUS, MANY WRITERS STILL BELIEVE THAT CAPITALIZATION COMMUNICATES AUTHORITY AND IMPORTANCE. “HEY, LOOK HERE, I’VE GOT SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY! I DEMAND THAT YOU PAY ATTENTION!” BUT A PARAGRAPH SET IN ALL CAPS IS VERY HARD TO READ. AND IT’S EVEN HARDER TO READ IF IT’S BOLD. AS THE PARAGRAPH WEARS ON, READERS FATIGUE. INTEREST WANES. HOW ABOUT YOU? DO YOU ENJOY READING THIS? I DOUBT IT. BUT I REGULARLY SEE CAPITALIZED PARAGRAPHS THAT ARE MUCH LONGER THAN THIS. DO YOUR READERS A FAVOR. STOP CAPITALIZING WHOLE PARAGRAPHS.
All-caps paragraphs are an example of self-defeating typography. If you need readers to pay attention to an important part of your document, the last thing you want is for them to skim over it. But that’s what inevitably happens with all-caps paragraphs, because they’re so difficult to read.
To emphasize a paragraph, you have better options. Use rules and borders. Add a heading that labels it Important. Run it in a larger point size. But don’t capitalize it.
The terms uppercase and lowercase come from traditional print shops. Capital letters, used less frequently, were stored in a case on a shelf above the other letters (then called minuscule letters).
by the way
· “Why reject underlining but not caps? Aren’t they both typewriter habits?” No. Caps are the original alphabetic characters. They are part of the oldest traditions of our written language. Underlining cannot claim a similar pedigree. Caps in English descend directly from the Latin alphabet. (That’s why basic, unstyled fonts are called roman.) Through the early Middle Ages, scribes in Europe adapted the Latin alphabet into smaller, more casual forms, called minuscules. In the 700s, Charlemagne started a project to create a standardized script across his empire. That script, Carolingian minuscule, spread through Europe and popularized the combination of uppercase and lowercase letters that’s been a feature of printed European languages since then.
· To those holdouts who are still typing emails in all caps: enough already. YOU DON’T HAVE TO SHOUT. WE CAN HEAR YOU JUST FINE.
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