2830: New Capital N Sep 19, 2024

Looking at these examples of logos altogether [see photo], there is a notable trend of using a lowercase-style <n> in an all-capital font. Some of these examples have long histories, including 7-Eleven with 6 variations using this version of <n> beginning in 1968, and Wendy’s that has also had 6 <n> versions since 1969 until 2013, and even more notably used a regular capital <N> in its slogan “old fashioned burgers”. ESPN has also always used the lowercase version, and the other two examples are newer, so it cannot be considered a trend so much as a phenomenon, which doesn’t even have a name.

You might be able to call this a small majuscule-n meaning that even when lower case it is made to fit the same height and base as all the rest of the letters in a line, but historically all majuscule fonts are upper case, uncial scripts. This is in contrast with miniscule scripts where some letters can have sections that go above or below the imaginary lines where the letters fit. 

The exact reason for this is unclear, but it also seems to have come from different reasons. In the case of 7-Eleven, about which many articles and company statements exist, it is supposedly that the founder’s wife simply thought it looked nicer. In the other cases, it is less obvious, if any concrete reason exists. This is not a modern trend either per se, as is the all-lowercase design, but may also help with visual balance, and given its rounder and less jagged shape per the same width, may be an attempt to look friendlier. Overall, it is not particularly widespread, but seems to be the most widespread of its kind of single-letter lowercase type

If you have any more information or more examples, please add a comment with more.