The Markdown Mark

Use this mark to identify Markdown. It can be used to identify user input areas which support Markdown-compiled HTML output or to identify general Markdown support.

The Markdown Mark was designed and built by Dustin Curtis (https://dustincurtis.com). Important contributions were provided by Mac Tyler (http://mactyler.com).

Markdown was developed by John Gruber (https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/) in collaboration with Aaron Swartz.

Design

The "M" glyph was inspired by the the capital letter M of Gill Sans Bold, a typeface designed by Eric Gill in 1928. The down arrow icon was constructed to proportionally complement the "M" glyph. The border radius used for the rounded enclosure box was chosen so that the box looks natural at both small and large sizes.

Usage

The Markdown Mark is designed to be used for identifying user input areas which support Markdown-compiled HTML output and to identify general Markdown support.

Please note that in proper usage the enclosure box border radii change as the mark scales in size. Vector versions of each size class can be found in the Specimen, Photoshop, and Illustrator files. Pixel-fitted raster versions can be found in the png folder.

Although you may modify this mark any way you like, without restriction, we ask that you respect the following guidelines:

1. Please maintain the aspect ratio and border radius of the rounded enclosure box.
2. Please do not change the relative sizes of the "M" glyph, the down arrow icon, and the enclosure box.
3. Please show the three elements which make up the mark, including the "M" glyph, the down arrow icon, and the box enclosure, in the same color.
4. When possible, please display the mark in a shade of gray, white, or black.

Specification

Let the stem width of the down arrow icon be ×. The vertical lines which make up the "M" glyph shall have a width of ×. The negative space between the "M" glyph, the down arrow icon, and the border of the enclosure box shall be ×.

For the outline version of the mark, the border width shall be ½ of ×. For the solid version of the mark, the space between the exterior edge of the enclosure and its contents shall be × + ½×.

Examples

Identify a text input area that supports Markdown-compiled HTML output:

Identify general Markdown support:

License

The Markdown Mark has been dedicated to the public domain. See the included file LICENSE.