Current Headline Styles

I just received an email asking, "What do you think about headlines in all caps?"

All-caps headlines, in my opinion, are often reserved for major news items. They are often reserved for nouns like "Devastation" or "Champions" and are typically no longer than three words.

I made the decision to reconsider my position and think of further situations in which all-caps would be appropriate. And to investigate the rationale behind our choice of headline formats.

Rules can be humorous. Once you assume you understand what they are, someone alters them. Your trusted stylebook can become less reliable as a result of a new editor, redesign, or pagination system.

Upstyle and Downstyle

These are the two headline types that newspapers use the most these days.

Only the initial word and proper nouns are capitalized while writing in the down style. The term "up style" refers to capitalizing the first letter of all important terms.

Although down style is thought to be the more readable, I find them to be equally legible. For headlines, Poynter Online uses up-style.

The majority of papers use down style, and up style is the second most popular, according to a brief scan of the Today's Pages portion of the Newseum website.

However, certain publications, including The New York Times, use a variety of styles. Times headlines are capitalized, italicized, and up-styled. Each has a distinct purpose.

CAPITALS ONLY

All-caps type is more difficult to read. Words become rectangles and are more difficult to distinguish when ascenders and descenders are removed. This is especially true for lengthy text lines.

Only use the all-caps style for brief passages of type, such as one- to three-word headings, labels, headers, and other brief navigational items.

Sans Serif fonts typically perform better in all-caps than sans serif fonts. In this instance, the serifs obstruct readability and slow down reading.

Furthermore, employing all capital letters takes up more room. The key is to recognize when and why you should utilize the all-caps style and to give it a purpose.

Brand and tonality

We always return to the subject in the end. A newspaper should use a headline style that accurately captures the tone and spirit of the content. The tone of a narrative about the legislature is probably not the same as a shoot-out.

Guidelines for selecting the right headline can be quite helpful. There must be a justification for using all caps. It is not sufficient to just like the way it looks.

Additionally, personality and branding are important. The Las Vegas Review-Journal may not agree with what The New York Times thinks is appropriate. A publication's chosen headline design contributes to its distinctiveness.

Look at the illustrations below. During the tsunami news, the headline "Waves of Death" frequently appeared. Take note of the minute variations and how the headlines' personalities alter as you examine each style.

The first two examples, which are written in a serif font, display a typical headline design that might be used with a daily narrative. Down style is the first, while up style is the second. Both options are sensible, emotionally neutral, and good choices.

The third example is written in all caps and uses the same serif typeface as the first two. The headline is smaller because text written in all capital letters takes up more room. Even if the headline is smaller in this instance, the impact of the headline is really