Make your characters pretty
20080416537
Breadcrumbs and more links are the best gross uses of typography on the internet. I’m all for using character delimiters over graphics (oh IE, if only you support content) but only when using the right character. A pretty character. And if it’s a graphical version of a character it most certainly better be a pretty character.
Point right
Using > is huge improvement over typing > but that character is meant for comparing the values of two things, not for breadcrumbs. I’ve always been into rock quotes for breadcrumbs and more links and any other time I can possibly use them.* No, not those rock quotes. These: ». Unfortunately not all designers/clients dig the double arrow. » is fun to say but › may get more use. See how nice they are? › vs >. The angles are better, the width is better and it sits on the baseline better. And big!
Use it. It will make you feel warm and fuzzy, not stabby and gross.
Slashers
Breadcrumbs also often get the slash treatment for delimiters. / is for the weak – make it a fractional slash: ⁄ [⁄]. Again, note the perfect angle, width and baseline.
Numbers
How many characters entities can you name by their number? Inconsistency is awesome. I have a thing for the numbers with nearly all characters but rock quote is way too fun to say. I’m typing » or › over » or › but ⁄ over ⁄ any day. It just feels right.
- * I know, quote symbols are no more semantic than numeric operators. None of this is subjective, I swear.
Comments
The Header Should Always Point Home
WHAT!!??? dear god you need to help me someday.