A Company-Wide Style Guide Helps Everyone Get on the Same Page
Would you lose count if you added up all the times your company logo has been misused or company colors have been printed incorrectly? How about proper use of certain terms or names? If so, then it’s time for your company to develop a set of standards or “style guide” that includes logo use, writing terms and more.
Throughout our careers, we have found that establishing a company’s style through brand and writing standards is an essential resource to all staff across a company – marketing, technical, operations, administration, and field personnel.
We like to think of a Style Guide as a two-part document. The first element is a Brand Manual that clearly defines the graphic elements of your company. Elements should include:
- Approved logo versions and examples of full logo, brandmark and tagline, if applicable
- Logo size requirements for legibility at various sizes
- Logo file types for use across company communications
- Padding/spacing around logo to maintain brand standards
- Company color codes in CMYK and RGB, at a minimum
- Approved company typography for headings and body copy
The second element is a Writing Guide that is specific to each company’s communication style. Writing Guides can include, but are not limited to:
- Company name use including legal name, full name and abbreviated versions
- Company-specific terms such as job titles and organization structure
- Equipment, software and/or process names
- Industry-specific terms such as registrations, certifications, technical terms and abbreviations
- Writing format for resume introductions, project descriptions, etc.
In all the above writing items, remember that capitalization and punctuation matter! Establish company protocol and standards for terms and abbreviations to encourage consistency moving forward. PE is not the same as P.E.
If you’ve read this far, we hope the wheels are turning in your head as to what you could include for your company. We encourage you to begin compiling this information for company-wide use. If you are already using an informal Style Guide (i.e., list of go-to standards) with your marketing staff, we encourage you to formalize and distribute it to your entire company. It could make your job a little easier!
If you have questions or need help, feel free to contact us! We’d love to help you get started.