Forum - View topicMixed case lettering
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jgreen
 Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Does mixed case lettering irritate anyone else? Maybe it's just the fact that I've been reading comics where all dialogue is written in capital letters for my entire life, but when I see lettering in a comic that's done as mixed case (or, in other words, the way I'm typing right now), I find it horribly distracting.
It also seems really strange to me that any company would use all-caps lettering on some titles and mixed-case lettering on others. Del Rey, for example, uses mixed-case lettering on some titles (Free Collars Kingdom, Nodame Cantabile, Mamotte! Lollipop, Shugo-Chara!, Kitchen Princess, Air Gear) and all-caps on others (Q-Ko-Chan, School Rumble, Sugar Sugar Rune). Why? For a minute, I thought it might be that they used mixed-case lettering for the all-ages titles and all caps for stuff aimed at older readers, but Sugar Sugar Rune and Air Gear seem to contradict that theory.... |
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LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
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By mixed case lettering, I take it to mean capitalizing the first letter of the first word in a sentance then using lower case for all of the other letters? Except for names and "I."
If that's what you are refering to. No, it doesn't. I usually don't pay any attention to the type font. Except when they use font that is hard to read. So if they use mixed case or all capitals, I don't care. Just as long as the words are spelled properly and the font isn't hard to read and they don't run the words off the page. |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I actually don't like all caps being used so mixed case letting makes me happy. All caps doesn't greatly bother me, but I definitely have a strong preference for mixed.
As long as it's consistent though I don't have too much of an issue. |
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jgreen
Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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That's exactly what I meant, thank you.
That's a HUGE pet peeve of mine. I was reading Suzuka over the weekend and was getting very annoyed about having to almost snap the book in half to read some of the dialogue. |
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Patachu
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 1325 Location: San Diego |
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One of my favorite comics of all time, the Tintin series, is in mixed-case.
But then again, that's kind of an exception because the dialogue and balloons are more prose-like than most. I think the rule of typography is that short lines and signage should be all caps, while prose text should be mixed. So yah, manga dialogue is best suited to all caps (and some out of most scanlators agree). Death Note would probably benefit from mixed though. 
As for Del Rey's methods, I think it's because their translators and letterers are freelance. So it's up to their personal taste, with some mild editorial guidance. Maybe the editors need to toughen up and develop a "house style" for lettering. One thing I do know, however—the cutesy "kiddie" lettering on TP's Strawberry Marshmallow drives me frickin' nuts. |
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1371 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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If AnYoNe maKeS PuBliCatiOn UsiNg MiXeD Case lettering like that... they need to be shot anyways. 
Personally, I prefer reading all the type-fonts in English translated manga (or comics) in all CAPS. It's a lot clearer. However, those printed using Proper English; nothing wrong with that either. |
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jgreen
Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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I haven't read one in ages, but don't the English editions of Asterix use all caps lettering that has highly sharp angles, "D"s that look like triangles and that sort of thing? I haven't read an Asterix book since I was like 12 so I might be remembering wrong....
I agree with that rule. I know that on quite a few Marvel titles, they use all caps for the dialogue and mixed case for text boxes/narration, and that technique I think works quite well.
Why I oughta...! *shakes fis* |
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KyuuA4
Posts: 1371 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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Thankfully, y'didn't say l33t.
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fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
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I have to admit it's a bit out of the ordinary, I remember seeing it in Japan quite often. The only drawback to it is if you're doing a search where it has to be 100% accurate, then it's a problem. Other than that I don't mind it.
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jgreen
Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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I did make a pretty egregious typo though, apparently.  Curses!
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NGE1113
 Posts: 1081 Location: Alexandria, VA. |
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I can't say that the usage of mixed cased lettering sets me on edge. It's never bothered me whether it's all capitalized or mixed-cased.
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Asako
 Posts: 751 Location: Hawaii |
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Mixed case lettering?! I wonder if I've run across it before. I don't think I have. I would imagine that it would bug the hell out of me. I'm more accustomed to comic book style
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kyonichi
Posts: 16 |
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I've never even noticed caps/lower case while reading manga... Now I'm curious whether that's because most of my manga is all caps, or if I just don't pay that much attention!
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SharinganEyes92
 Posts: 816 |
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I myself have never come across "mixed case lettering" while reading manga. However, I'm sure that if I were to come across it, I would have no problem with it at all, so long as the lettering is consistent throughout the graphic novel.
What bugs me the most when reading a volume of manga is the placement of the text. Occasionally, the text will be either too close to the side or bottom of the page, and it becomes a hassle to figure out what was said. Typos also get on my nerves. As if it's too hard for an editor to proofread his/her work before they submit it for printing and mass production. |
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Not a Jellyfish
 Posts: 539 Location: Boston, MA |
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I've always wondered why they type it in all caps in comics anyway.....
Personally, I never really noticed. Occasionally I have, but most of the time, It never bothers me either way. Although, we were discussing in my business class the other day that studies show that mixed-lettering is actually much easier to read than all caps. And I thought it was always the other way around. |
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