A colon is a 'stop', just like a comma, a full-stop or a question mark and should sit on the baseline accordingly. Ask your client if she would suggest centering a semicolon in the same way.

If it were me, I'd tell her that conventionally, it sits on the baseline. But since she's paying, she can have it any way she wants -- even sideways. Anything to differentiate yourself from the competition.

If she gets fussy (just using a baseline shift to "center" likely will make the "top dot" too high), you get to make up a new colon & further differentiate your ability & services.

Innuendo o.k., joke, no.

well, it can depend on what the setting is. When I'm setting all-cap display that includes a colon, I baseline shift the colon to raise it. For extended upper+lower text, the colon usually sits on the baseline.

Haven't some typeface designers begun to include a "caps colon" in the character set? One that centers on the cap height and does not need to be raised?

powers

"Open up Word. Type a sentence with a colon in it."

Duh.

I was asking if there was anywhere where it actually states this as a rule. In order to sell this, I need to show her hard proof. I've already tried explaining that if a colon was meant to be aligned centered, the character would be set that way, as a hyphen is. She's not buying it though.

Well, at some level, it all a matter of convention. Why does any letter -- or punctuation -- look as it does? You can go back to scribal writing and find periods that are centered. If you look at the 42-line Guttenberg Bible (1455), the colon is on the baseline (except there was no "baseline" with metal type.)

Pressing on, the Cicero : Letters, printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz, Rome, 1470, have a more-or-less "centered" colon. However, the Letters printed by de Spira, Venice, 1469, show a "baseline" colon. Of course, both of these printers were German, but moved to different cities in what is now Italy.

Noinus : Peripatetica, Jensen, Venice, 1476, seems to use a baseline colon.

Froissart : Chroinques, de Tournes (Lyons, 1559) uses the "centered" colon.

By in Large, the vast majority of printers used a "baseline" colon. But if you want to find a few instances of the "centered" colon, you can.

So your client is passing strange, but not completely wrong, unless she is using a type where the type designer decreed a baseline colon. The answer is simple: change typefaces.

FWIW

"I was asking if there was anywhere where it actually states this as a rule"

Okay, Open up Word. Type a sentence in 5 fonts with a colon in them. ;)

"She’s not buying it though."

Okay, Open up Word. Type a sentence in 50 fonts with a colon in them. ;)

I don't think there is a rule anywhere better displayed that says "The colon is a multi-case glyph aligned to work best with all three major character groups; uppercase, lowercase and figures. In order to not appear high as a kite with lowercase, it is not centered vertically among the figures and Caps, but instead, the bottom jot matches the period, and the top jot aligns to the x-height."

Specialty colon characters can be made at any time for use in digital clocks, special tables and all cap uses.

Cheers!

Someone should design a plug-in for proper colon alignment.

Sorry, couldn't resist.
David

I was asking if there was anywhere where it actually states this as a rule. In order to sell this, I need to show her hard proof. I’ve already tried explaining that if a colon was meant to be aligned centered, the character would be set that way, as a hyphen is. She’s not buying it though.

If a client was dicking me around and fussing and giving me this much hassle over a colon I would tell her it's going to cost her $500 extra to have her colon sorted the way she wants it, and if she won't pay that she is wasting her time and my time and to please go away and waste somebody else's time instead, as I have plenty of paying customers with realistic demands on-tap.

Why are you putting up with this?

The client is unprofessional and you could be much more professional about this by handling her in a professional manner.

All comments made in good faith.

j a m e s

I suspect dberlow hit in on the head - this idea comes from looking at digital clocks. Is this for text, or a logo, or something else?

"Duh."

If the "Duh" solution isn't enough to convince the client, then it's time to either a) give in or b) find a new client.

Closest reference i could find is http://www.microsoft.com/typography/developers/fdsspec/punc.htm

...they don't specifically talk about vertical placement, which to me implies that it's centered on the x-height (other chars ARE specifically called out when they are not in alignment with "normal" characters).

@shanyar: Tell my company’s creative director and owner that we should ditch a multi-million dollar account over a colon. Ha!

It is abundantly clear from what they say that some commentators on this topic have either never worked in a media agency or not worked in a position within a creative agency that takes its business seriously.

If the client represented a multi million dollar account they would have already signed the work contract and agreed in advance to pay in full all amounts charged to their account incurred as a result of demands made by them. It says so in the work contract, and their account manager signed it. If the job itself is worth millions the extra $1000 I'd be charging for a custom colon should easily be within their budget.

If the client is smallfry they need me more than I need them, so they can walk. It's probably gonna work out cheaper for them.

"What's that? Now you want $1000 for the custom colon. Didn't you say $500 a few days ago?"

Yes, I did. The price has gone up because you keep dicking us around. Are there any more questions? Didn't think so.

See ya!

j a m e s