Tell me more ×
User Experience Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for user experience researchers and experts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 5 down vote favorite

This technique comes from print media, and I'm sure that if I'd ever taken a typography class I'd know it. I tried googling but couldn't find anything helpful.

What is it called when an article quotes itself and places that quote in large text in the middle of the page?

I found an example in this article on the history of HTML 5. See the text circled in red:

Example of article quoted in middle of itself in large text

share|improve this question

1 Answer

up vote 14 down vote accepted

Those are called "pull quotes"

Used to attract attention, especially in long articles, a pull-quote is a small selection of text pulled out and quoted in a larger typeface or using some other formatting distinct from the rest of the article. A pull-quote may be framed by rules, placed within the article, span multiple columns, or be placed in an empty column near the article.

It is also sometimes known as a call-out, but not all call-outs are pull-quotes.

There's no specific element in html5 for pull-quotes, you would likely code them as an <aside> or a <blockquote>, Semantically, they would likely be an <aside>, since you should be able to remove them without the remaining content becoming incomplete.

Ideally you'd also code them so the content of the pull-quote doesn't appear as text in the content.

share|improve this answer
In html5 would you use figure, aside or/and blockquote? – jrosell Dec 14 '11 at 8:03
@jrosell: I was thinking of using a div with a custom class so I could duplicate the text using something like jQuery. I'll look into those tho. And I'll let Erics actually answer ;) – Merlyn Morgan-Graham Dec 14 '11 at 8:09
How do we distinguish between when the quote is also present in the body text and when it only in the quote? Sometimes, a small part of the text is itself formatted in a distinctive way to make it appear more prominently, entirely as in the above example. – Kris Dec 14 '11 at 12:31
I see your edit +1 – jrosell Dec 14 '11 at 19:34

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.