Old school numbers have advantages

“Why aren’t there lowercase numbers?”

Well, there are. 

I’ve mentioned the excellent MyFont manuals about typography before. Their latest is about the different ways that numbers are shown in type.

Early typographers used numbers that, like lowercase letters, varied in height and whether they descended below the base line. They’re not called oldstyle letters.

 

We are used to lining numbers, which are the equivalent of all capital numbers. By historical accident, they have become out default for what numbers are accessible to us most of the time.

The tidbit that jumped out at me in the article:

Lining numerals may appear to be more legible than their more senior brethren, but a variety of legibility studies have proven that this is not the case: lowercase numerals are moderately more legible than lining numerals when isolated, and considerably more legible when set in groups.

On a poster, legibility is such a critical factor that I recommend people consider trying oldstyle numbers.

But I freely admit that using those numbers forms can be a little complicated.

First, you usually need a font that includes alternate number shapes. OpenType fonts often include them. For example, the sample above is the ubiquitous Arial. 

Second, you need software that lets you access those advanced OpenType features. Many dedicated graphics programs will let you do this. I changed the numbers in CorelDraw.

But if you’re stuck with Microsoft Office, unfortunately, Microsoft’s support for those alternate types is very patchy (even though they helped create the format). The same is true for Google tools or Canva (but here.s a workaround for Canva).

Some typefaces, however, just use oldstyle letters for everything. Corbel, for example.

External links

The story of typographic numbers