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phyllisj9
phyllisj9
Inspiring
Jun 6, 2009 8:42 PM UTC
Question

Accents on Capital Letters?

Hi,

Are you supposed to use accent marks on capital letters?  I'm creating a design (for a graphic-design class) about the painter Salvador Dali (the Ii in his last name has an accent mark on it).  I'm going to use the name DALI in all-caps.  I'm not sure if the accent is used in all caps.  Does anyone know?

Thanks, Phyllis

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    15 replies

    Jacob Bugge
    Community Expert
    Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Jun 7, 2009 2:06 PM UTC

    Phyllis,

    What about shortening the I to make the accent mark fit, using your creative freedom?

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    phyllisj9
    phyllisj9Author
    Inspiring
    Jun 7, 2009 2:35 PM UTC

    Hey!  Tried that too, but it always seemed a little "off" somehow.  Had the best results with scaling the accent mark.  I don't think it looks too odd.  And I sort of liked the smaller type after I got used to it (had to make a little smaller even with the scaling).  I guess this is a good workout on typography...  :-)

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    Jacob Bugge
    Community Expert
    Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Jun 6, 2009 9:31 PM UTC

    You are welcome, Phyllis.

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    Jacob Bugge
    Community Expert
    Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Jun 6, 2009 9:17 PM UTC

    Phyllis,

    Are you supposed to use accent marks on capital letters?

    Certainly. You might consider capitals and small capitals instead of all capitals as a subtler way to make the name stand out.

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    phyllisj9
    phyllisj9Author
    Inspiring
    Jun 6, 2009 9:22 PM UTC

    Thanks!!!  I thought I'd read years ago that you didn't use them in all-caps for some reason.  But if that were true, why would there be any?  I don't know where I got that.

    Good suggestion on the small-caps.  The accent-mark is making my I too tall, so maybe I'll try that.

    Thanks!

    Phyllis

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    phyllisj9
    phyllisj9Author
    Inspiring
    Jun 6, 2009 9:34 PM UTC

    Actually, now I'm going through a book on Dali.  I'm noticing that the accent mark only appears on lower-case mentions (when it's all-caps or small-caps, the mark is left off).  Do you suppose it's optional?

    Thanks, Phyllis

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    phyllisj9
    phyllisj9Author
    Inspiring
    Jun 6, 2009 8:43 PM UTC

    (I meant i in his last name, not li -- typing too fast)

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