Typography Tip: Use the Interpunct For Horizontal Lists

It’s better than a vertical pipe, and less intrusive than the bullet

It’s the little things that shout the loudest.

Your shoes may be polished and your tux on point, but if that pocket square isn’t crisp and straight, something won’t look quite right.

There are parallels to this in the way type is used.

You probably already know about the importance of using “curly quotes” instead of

“straight”

…and you don’t fall into the trap of placing two spaces after a period. Right?

Em-dashes? — Yes please. En-dash separating a range of numbers? Only if you were born between 1900–2020. Proper ellipsis instead of three consecutive periods? …Check.

Horizontal Lists Need Some Love, Too

Bullet points are appropriate for vertical lists.

• They designate the next item in a sequence
• They appear automatically when you select the “unsorted list” option
• They look orderly

But what about items that need to sit on one line, and be obviously separated from each other?

The two most popular contenders to differentiate between items in a horizontal list are the vertical pipe, and the same bullet used in vertical lists. The least used by most people is the middle dot, or interpunct. A pity, that, as it’s the best choice by far.

Vertical pipe:
Item one | Item two | Item 3
This line extends below the base of the x-height, but can still be mistaken for a capital “I” from a distance. Not the best choice for legibility, but can work well when rendered in a significantly lighter colour than the text.

Regular bullet:
Item one • Item two • Item 3
A more visually obvious separation, but a clumsy, unnecessary whack in the face when compared with the middle dot.

Interpunct:
Item one · Item two · Item 3
A visually obvious separation, with a classy vibe. And class is what we are going for, yes? As professionals and informed amateurs alike.

But Where Will I Use It?

The interpunct, or middle dot, has a long and interesting history that spans runes to Chinese writing systems. It’s commonly used today in Japanese to separate foreign words written in katakana, and in French to make gender-neutral words obvious.

You can use it—

• In any notes app that links internal pages together, to separate commonly used links on one line (beautiful, and space saving). I use it for quick links at the top of my dashboard in Obsidian.
• On your business card
• In place of dashes when indicating the separate syl·la·bles of a word (compared to syl•la•bles)

Con·clu·sion

Bullets (Option + 8 on the Mac) are good for vertical lists, but are too heavy handed for separating multiple items on one line.

For that you should use the interpunct, or middle dot (Option + Shift + 9).