Matthias Ott2d ago
Typography nerds, I need your opinion! (And help 🙏)
Channeling your inner Robert Bringhurst – how would you write a percentage in English correctly?
100 % – with a space, because % is a unit
6.4%
100% – who needs a weird space here?
68.2%
100 % – with a thin space, don't half-ass it!
19.7%
Honestly, who cares, really…
5.8%
Poll ended at .
Show threadMatthias Ott

I learned in design school in Germany that of course, the percent symbol is separated from the number with a space. Because you could also write 100 Prozent. You also don’t write 100cm without a space, right?

And the careful typographer will make a Jan Tschichold gesture and decrease the space slightly …

But obviously, things are different in written English.

Apr 1 at 3:04pmWeb
Show threadRichard Rutter2d ago
@matthiasott 100% right
Show threadMatthias Ott2d ago
@Richr Okay, I can stop the poll now 😁
Show threadHarald2d ago

@matthiasott
Absolutely 👍

I assume Knuth thought a lot about those things when designing TeX and he wrote😎

"When physical units appear in a formula, they should be [...] separated from the preceding material by a thin space..."

The TeXbook page 169. I take it that percent is very much like a unit.

https://archive.org/details/B-001-002-139/page/n179/mode/2up

Show threadFrank Rausch2d ago
@matthiasott Thin space. It’s logical and it helps with readability. But I’m not familiar with English-language typesetting traditions here. Did you check your Bringhurst?