Choosing the right letter case for your digital product is more important than it might seem. It can really affect how people see and feel about your product. In a team, not everyone will agree on whether to use title case, sentence case, or upper case. In this article, I’ll talk about these common letter cases, share my thoughts on what to pick.
What are letter cases?
According to Wikipedia, a letter case is a distinction between the letters that are in capitals and smaller lowercase in the written representation of certain languages. Also, the Wikipedia article says there are 7 letter cases.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_case
However, on the web, there are 3 famous ways to capitalize words.
- Upper case — Every letter is capitalized.
- Title case — The first letter of each word is capitalized.
- Sentence case — The first letter of the first word is capitalized.
1. Upper case
Upper Case is typically used to grab the reader’s attention. It’s effective because our eyes quickly spot words in upper case, interpreting them as important information. Our eyes are quick to spot words in upper case as our minds are trained to perceive them as important pieces of information.
It is not recommended to use uppercase for lengthy paragraphs as it is not good for readability. Use upper case for short texts which should stand out from the rest. Be cautious, though; in text messaging, all capitals can come across as shouting.
2. Title Case
Title Case, where the first letter of each word is capitalized, is often seen as aesthetically pleasing and professional. It’s used in various formal publications and is recommended in Apple’s design guidelines for UI components. It’s mostly used in newspapers and academic publications. Headings within bodies of text that use title case draw the reader’s eye and provide emphasis.
However, using title case comes with its own set of rules and challanges:
- Commonly, words with less than four letters or determiners like ‘the’, ‘of’, and ‘for’ are not capitalized.
- Apple’s design guidelines offer specific rules for Title Case:
- Capitalize every word except articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, or), and prepositions of four or fewer letters.
- Always capitalize the first and last word of the title, regardless of these rules.
- Prepositions can be an exception; they are often capitalized when part of a noun or prepositional phrase, like “Start-Ups” or “Starting Up.”
- Overuse of title cases within a page can lead to content feeling overwhelming and may reduce legibility, especially when misapplied to non-heading text.
- Inconsistent application of title case rules can confuse both writers and readers, disrupting the flow and readability of the text.
3. Sentence Case
Favoured for its readability and conversational tone, sentence case capitalizes only the first letter of the first word. It’s easy to define and implement, making it a popular choice for web content. Sentence Case feels friendly and approachable, aligning with how we naturally communicate. This is what Google’s material design suggests to follow.
- The biggest reason to use sentence case is that it’s easier to read and define. we can easily spot proper nouns like names, names of places and product names.
- Most international writers prefer sentence cases. It’s so much easier to maintain consistency. Consistency is what we’re trying to achieve when writing UX copy.
- It’s lack of authority means sentence cases may not be considered “serious” enough for a certain theme of content.
💡 Choosing between title case and sentence case should also depend on your audience. Older generations or formal settings might prefer title cases, while younger audiences and innovative environments lean towards sentence cases. Understanding your target audience is crucial in making the right choice for your product’s tone and style.
Popular design systems letter case preference
The following table shows how some popular design systems apply letter cases to titles and descriptions.
In summary
There are pros and cons for both sentence and title case. but it’s also worth considering how readers perceive these within the context of the format. The format of your content must be consistent if you want clear readability. Both title and sentence case have their benefits. Their use is more applicable in some contexts rather than others because the reader considers them differently.
However, for me, sentence cases are better. It’s cleaner and easy to define and implement. For writing for the web, sentence case is more appropriate because of how people read online and it’s more conversational manner.
The most important thing to remember is consistency. Inconsistencies are more distracting, and more obvious than you might think, for the reader. Consistency isn’t just about the tone and voice. The way it’s written is important because that’s what the reader sees first
Reference links
Title case vs Sentence Case for CTAs. : r/uxwriting (reddit.com)
Title case vs sentence case in UX writing | by Kateryna Prokhorenko
Consistency: Key to a Better User Experience | UX Booth
Why Text in All Caps Is Hard for Users to Read (uxmovement.com)
When We Read, We Recognize Words as Pictures and Hear Them Spoken Aloud | Scientific American
Sentence case or title case?. How we read on the web is becoming more… | by Dominic Warren
