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Capitals:
Are You YELLING at Me? Back when we used the typewriter as a writing tool, it was common to use all caps as a means of heavy emphasis. If you wanted a word or passage to be seen, you used ALL CAPS. Thankfully, today we have a better method. Today, we have bold fonts. Study after study has shown that it is much more difficult to read text in all caps than it is in upper and lowercase letters. We look at and read words by their letters but also by the shapes of those letters in patterns. These shapes are called the "coastline" and refers to the ups and downs of the descenders and ascenders of the letters. When words are written in all caps, there are no ups and downs. All the shapes and heights of the letters are exactly the same. When words are written in all caps, we have to read the words letter by letter which really slows us down. Read this paragraph in all caps to see how much longer it takes. STUDY AFTER STUDY HAS SHOWN THAT IT IS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO READ TEXT IN ALL CAPS THAN IT IS IN UPPER AND LOWERCASE LETTERS. WE LOOK AT AND READ WORDS BY THEIR LETTERS BUT ALSO BY THE SHAPES OF THOSE LETTERS IN PATTERNS. THESE SHAPES ARE CALLED THE "COASTLINE" AND REFERS TO THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE DESCENDERS AND ASCENDERS OF THE LETTERS. WHEN WORDS ARE WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS, THERE ARE NO UPS AND DOWNS. ALL THE SHAPES AND HEIGHTS OF THE LETTERS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. WHEN WORDS ARE WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS, WE HAVE TO READ THE WORDS LETTER BY LETTER WHICH REALLY SLOWS US DOWN. READ THIS PARAGRAPH IN ALL CAPS TO SEE HOW MUCH LONGER IT TAKES. How did that feel? Probably not too good if you could
get through it at all. I had a hard time just typing it. Yuck. If text
is typed in all caps, a designer will probably need to retype it to convert
it to upper and lowercase letters. It's time-consuming and it leaves more
chance for errors. If you are writing copy for a brochure or newsletter,
and want to indicate bold styling or extra emphasis, I would encourage
you to bold the letters and give the designer a printed copy of the text. Tip: Affordable Graphic Design classes are available near you? Sign up for FREE information from top design schools. Some Links You May Find Useful 
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obody
likes to be yelled at — in person, on the phone or in print. Unfortunately,
that doesn't seem to stop some people from doing it on their web pages,
in their e-mails and in their brochures. I am referring to the overuse
of ALL CAPS which basically amounts to someone screaming at you in print.
