my feeling: no rules, whatever looks good in context, less is preferable.

the po box question depends on context, styles, weights, overall block layout,
any other uses of smallcaps ? does it stand out ? how many pieces of contact info need to appear, etc.

i try to keep some sort of rhythm to the whole thing, with consistent weights,
prefixes, labels (or not) so it all holds together.

i prefer to leave off the word “e-mail” as it’s usually self explanatory,
as are phone numbers, but on occaision you have a list of several contact options:

office:
cell:
fax:
e-mail:

in which case consistency suggests giving them all the same status, but you’ve got to balance simpicity with clarity. if one piece of info stands out as odd from the rest, there’s probably a better way.

I would do neither, PO Box would be acceptable to me, especially if the other lines of the address are title case, numerals might influence my choice as well.

For the numbers urls and e-mail I quite often use
t:
m: (for mobile, I guess c: would be better for US)
f:
e:
w:
etc.
ranged right on the colon.

Tim

Use small caps if the letters are meant to be read as letters, not as words. So in this case, small caps PO, u&lc Box works.

As to business cards, simplicity is best. The less text you have, the easier it is to find what you are looking for without wading through it. People look at business cards specifically to find your email address, so they probably can identify it at first sight without a label.

>Use small caps if the letters are meant to be read as letters, not as words.

That might be the case in running text, but not in an address block where the rest of the address would be title case.

Tim

Is there a Man Rule about this somewhere? I personally would stick it all in small caps and call it a day.

Thanks everyone. This is just the right input I needed.

the po box question depends on context, styles, weights, overall block layout, any other uses of smallcaps?

The reason I’m using small caps is because I’m using oldstyle numerals for the PO Box numbers, zip codes and telephone numbers to help with readabilty (the type is set in Freight Sans 8pt and it’s a tightly spaced font).

Use small caps if the letters are meant to be read as letters, not as words. So in this case, small caps PO, u&lc Box works.

I Agree. I’ll go with my original plan.

This is how the address reads (PO and PA will be set in small caps and all numbers will be oldstyle figures, I even chose that PO Box specificaly becuase the ’6’ ascends, the ’9’ descends and the ’8’ ascends making it easier to read at small sizes).

po Box 1698
Reading, pa 19603

People look at business cards specifically to find your email address, so they probably can identify it at first sight without a label.

Yeah you’re right.

Thanks everyone, appreciate it.

IM

Is there a Man Rule about this somewhere? I personally would stick it all in small caps and call it a day.

Ha! not that I’m aware of. I thought of that, but I just felt it didn’t work as well. I like the mixed settings (I think it shows attention to detail).

IM

Out of curiosity what is a Man Rule?
(The Chicago Manual?)

Tim

Ok, my bad. It’s Man Law, not Man Rule :)

Not something that has been inflicted on us and reading the wikipedia of Miller Lite’s ingredients I’m glad.
Thanks for the clarification though.

Tim

But seriously, if he is planning to use oldstyle figures, the small caps will work as well. Even if for display, correct? If I remember correctly the old guys way back in the day used small caps/letterspaced uppercase for many things. There’s nothing wrong with that in this case, is there?

Nothing per vim is wrong as long as the address on the business card can be used. My interpretation is based on the fact that an address will be made up of a selection of numerals and words and each word will be in title case. So to introduce another level, especially at the beginning of a line, might affect the harmony of the setting, more significantly it might also affect the usability of the card, while not gaining anything.

Tim