2009: The year of all-caps?

Is it just me, or is all-caps type really in right now? I know, that sounds like a pretty pointless statement, but I do think it’s getting really popular, and maybe out of hand. Now, I’m not talking about logos and headlines. No problem. I’m talking about all the copy in a magazine ad; all the on-screen type in a commercial; all the type on a poster; the entire ESPN bottom line (I think). Anyone who’s read The Elements of Typographic Style (Robert Bringhurst, version 3.1, 2005) knows that words in all-caps are less readable, even with letter-spacing. The trade-off is that they often look smoother and just nice. The regularity of the figures is more pleasing than lowercase type, riddled as it is with those awful (kidding) ascenders and descenders, which just happen to make the type more readable. But are we making this trade-off too willingly?

It’s not that we can never trade pure readability for aesthetic preference. On the contrary, I think we should to an extent—I don’t get any pleasure from the hard-line Jakob Nielsen approach—hence my exemption of logos and headlines (most of the time). But I hope we don’t lose the skill of making readable type beautiful. Some examples that come to mind:

• The Obama campaign. Where do you think the trend started (or at least gained momentum)?
• Those Ford TV commercials narrated by Dennis Leary, where every word he says is displayed on screen
• As noted, the ESPN ticker.

It’s tough to come up with examples on the spot, so I think I’ll make a habit of noting particularly strong examples when I come across them. I’ll preface the title of these posts with “Year of all-caps” or something.