I am writing a guide spec for a manufacturer whose branding guidelines is to put its product names in all lowercase letters.
When you encounter this sort of thing, do you use the manufacturer’s capitalization scheme or use more conventional capitalization in your specifications?
What if ee cummings had been a specifier?
I typically capitalize product names so they read clearly in context.
In response to Dave’s question, I expect ee would have done the same had he been a specifier. From the Wikipedia entry: “Cummings’s publishers often echoed the unconventional orthography in his poetry by writing his name in lowercase and without periods, but normal orthography (uppercase and periods) is supported by scholarship and preferred by publishers today. Cummings himself used both the lowercase and capitalized versions, though he most often signed his name with capitals.”
I use conventional capitalization regardless of what the manufacturer’s marketing department thinks is cool.
Related issue: Trademarks. I don’t use them. The only people required to use them are the companies who own them, to protect their property.