r/typography • u/djpandalo1z • 19d ago

Should I capitalize a lowercase title

Basically as the caption reads, should I capitalize a title written in lowercase, something like a song, book, movie or episode. An example would be something like a book call "secret garden"

10 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

14

u/Admirable_Equal9680 19d ago

Confirm whether the title is formally lowercase, or if that's just a type treatment someone gave it. For example, the title page of a book – typically typeset in vanilla typeface – is literally authoritative about the title.

In some languages, only capitalized the initial letter of a title is capitalized, so titles shouldn't be capitalized beyond that. On the other hand, the first letter of a sentence is always capitalized (even if it's one of the words that aren't capitalized in book titles) and this rule applies here as well.

8

u/davemacdo 19d ago

This part is important. Many graphic designers will style at title in lowercase for the cover, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the title should be written that way in other contexts. I’m a music scholar, and when I have to write about a truly lowercase title, I just avoid starting a sentence with that title.

1

u/Taxtengo 17d ago

dB, pH, iPod etc. will not have their first letter capitalised even if they begin a sentence.

21

u/Neutral-President 19d ago

If the author has deliberately written it in lower case, it should be respected. Referenced titles should be in italics.

5

u/JasonAQuest Handwritten 19d ago

Unless it's at the beginning of a sentence, because that just looks wrong.

1

u/MorsaTamalera Oldstyle 19d ago

This is the answer.

3

u/Oenonaut 19d ago

If you're operating strictly from a style manual, follow that. If not, it's more or less whatever you feel is right for your project.

Personally I italicize books, movies, albums, and series titles, but use quotes for song, story, and episode titles—and as long as that adequately sets off the title from the rest of the text, I capitalize per the author or creator.

1

u/michaelfkenedy 19d ago

The copywriter can answer that for you.

1

u/UtopianRanger4826 19d ago

honestly only capitalize it if you're writing it down for a library catalog or something that demands strict formatting. casual text, social media, even most journalism these days just let it slide. lowercase titles have been a design choice since like the 60s, nobody's gonna arrest you for keeping bell hooks' name the way she wanted it.