Capitalization

1. Introduction

1.1 What is capitalization for us?

To reflect Turkish Airlines’ hospitality in the experience, we must handle capitalization with care. In what ways do we approach capitalization?

1.2.1 Consistency

2. Basic terms

2.1. Title case

It refers to text where nearly all words begin with a capital letter. This style is commonly used for titles.

2.2. Sentence case

When only the first letter of the first word is capitalized, along with any proper nouns, similar to how you would write a regular sentence.

2.3 Proper nouns and branded terms

Should be written by starting a capital letter.

2.4. First word of a title or heading

Capitalize the first words even if it is a minor word such as “The”, “A” or “An”.

2.5. Minor Words

When using title case, lowercase minor words that are three letters or fewer, except for the first word in a title or subtitle, or the first word after a colon, em dash, or end punctuation in a heading.

1. Short conjunctions (e.g., “and,” “as,” “but,” “for,” “if,” “nor,” “or,” “so,” “yet”)
2. Articles (“a,” “an,” “the”)
3. Short prepositions (e.g., “as,” “at,” “by,” “for,” “in,” “of,” “off,” “on,” “per,” “to,” “up,” “via”)

3. Why we prefer to use sentence case?

We have valid reasons for minimizing the use of capital letters and opting for sentence structure:


3.1. Facilitating localization

We aim to provide an inclusive experience for our users worldwide. For a product available in 16 languages, this approach is essential.

3.2. Reflecting our hospitality

We communicate with each of our guests in a soft, polite, and respectful tone. When we use uppercase (ALL CAPS), our sole purpose is to ensure easy navigation for the user. Guiding them correctly within the product is our top priority.

3.3. Increasing usability

In our mobile and digital products, we must present a content-heavy design. We foresee that scannable, readable, and understandable content will also increase usability.

3.4. Keep users in the same story 

We strive to create all our pages consistently, giving the user the feeling that they are always reading the same story and having similar experiences.

4. Fields of usage

Capitalization guidelines vary based on content type and emphasis needs, with two main options: sentence case and title case. For a quick overview of the differences, check above.

Context is crucial when choosing the capitalization style. Web pages, app, blog and etc. each serve different purposes, and how a heading interacts with other creative elements can determine its capitalization. Please review also the use of titles, headings and body copies.

Here is the suggestions in components.

4.1. Buttons

Write the buttons in sentence case.

4.2. Headings

Write the headings in sentence case.

4.3. Email address or website URL

When writing out an email address or website URL, use all lowercase.

4.4. Input placeholders

Design all input placeholders in sentence case.

4.5. Mega menu

To enhance the noticeability of our users, we prefer using UPPERCASE titles in the HEADER, h and MEGA MENU. These titles are all accompanied by sub-header buttons, which are also written in UPPERCASE. As you can view below, the mega menu hierarchies are written from top to bottom as follows:


1. ALL CAPS headers (e.g. FLY DIFFERENT)
2. ALL CAPS titles (e.g. BOOK & MANAGE)
3. Sentence case titles (e.g. Book a flight)

4.6. Footers

Buttons in headers, footers, and mega menus, which consist of tabs and facilitate navigation, should always be written by following a hierarchy below. Our primary goal with these components is to simplify navigation, increase interaction, and provide clear guidance to the user.

1. ALL CAPS headers (e.g. EXPERIENCE)
2. ALL CAPS titles (e.g. ADDITIONAL SERVICES)
3. Sentence case titles (e.g. Manage booking)

4.7. Passenger names

The fluctuant nature of dynamic components should not deter us from standardizing. For this reason, we must adopt consistency as our principle in all circumstances. 



The differences in letters and characters across world languages can make our work quite challenging. There are numerous letters adapted to different languages, such as ‘ç’, ‘č’, ‘ş’, ‘æ’, etc. which can potentially be used by users filling out dynamic fields. 



However, a user with a Turkish name may not find the equivalent letter when in Denmark. Therefore, the capitalized forms of Latin letters found in global English, which are widely known and used by many people, should be used in passenger names.

4.8. Airplane types

Airplane types are also written in UPPERCASE to make them stand out from the other information in the component.

4.9. Addressing

Addressing the passenger according to their gender is important not for any particular stance but to help us calculate the average load of the plane. During ticketing, we record the gender in the system and use it to calculate an estimated weight. The user can also see this form of address on their interface.



’Mr.’ and ‘Ms.’ titles should be written in full compliance with grammar rules, using a period and within sentence case. 



Additionally, passengers can add their academic titles. Academic titles should also be written following grammar rules, such as ‘Prof.’ and ‘Ph.D.’ You can use artificial intelligence tools to ensure proper grammar rules.

5. Abbreviations

We include abbreviations in Horizon as needed. Please review also the use of abbreviations.
When capitalizing them here are the rules you should follow. You must display international abbreviation codes in ALL CAPS for better visibility and easier scanning. Use hyphens to separate them

5.1. Code abbreviations

Write all port code abbreviations in capital letters

5.2. Currencies

Use capital letters when you are writing currencies.

5.3. Country/region and language

In the language section, use capital letters for both country/region and language section.

5.4. Day and month

We do not recommend abbreviating the days due to the inclusivity, they may be abbreviated in tables, lists, or certain specific formats where space is limited. Use three letters without a period.

5. Punctuation usage

Punctuation marks and capital letters greatly influence each other, almost like they are dancing together within the text. The rules for when they are used together are as follows.

• If you are writing a sentence that ends with a punctuation mark, use sentence case regardless of where you wrote it.

• Capitalize the first word after a colon and em dash. Avoid capitalizing the first word after a hyphen and en dash.

• End the sentence with only exclamation point or question mark in headings, if needed. Don’t use periods in headings.

7. Special occasions

Miles is a concept specific to Turkish Airlines thats why the word ’’Miles’’ is a proper noun. It is used the same in every language except Turkish. Please use “Mil” for singular and “Miller” for plural in Turkish.