What is a style guide? Before today, I had never heard of a style guide, especially in the realm of writing and editing.
Today, in my Editing Technical Documents class, we talked all about it.
In her article, Key Elements of an Effective Style Guide in the New Age, Esha Adhya defines a style guide as a document that establishes rules for written materials.
What interest me most about this topic, is that organizations use style guides to build their brands. I did not know organizations had specific formats to create written content.
Dr. Kim’s lecture titled Style Guides and Style Sheets; identified reasons organizations choose specific style guides. Organizations select a specific style guide that aligns with its brand. I compare this to shopping in my favorite catalog.
I learned that there are many style guides, and they all follow different guidelines. Please see some of them below:
- The Chicago Manual of Style
- Microsoft Writing Style Guide
- The Associated Press Style Book
Per Dr. Kim’s lecture, visual and content style guides are equally important in building an organization’s brand.
Dr. Kim explained that visual style guides show how the content should be designed, while content style guides control how the copy and text are presented.
Visual style guides standardize elements such as logos, color, fonts and print web. While content style guides standardize elements, such as spelling, punctuation, number, and word choice.
I am surprised to know that many organizations have developed standards for the style of content.
With there being so many style guides used in writing, I can see why it would be critical for editors to know which style guide to apply to the material they are editing.
Overall, the use of style guides is a great tool in the tech comm space. It keeps the brand consistent, whether that brand is for an individual or an organization. This information will help me with some of my work goals, as I am striving to be a better writer and editor. I hope this blog helps new writers and editors who are struggling to learn the industry standards.