Content style guides – examples and resources
If you’re attending UX Antwerp, OmnichannelX or Utterly Content, you can catch my talk about my experience with style guides, in which I share things that I have learned about creating and managing them.
Here are a few style guides that I know of that I find really interesting. Plus, some resources that might help you build or improve your content style guide.
Great in their simplicity
- MailChimp
- GOV.UKĀ Content design: planning, writing and managing content – Guidance – GOV.UK
- BBC – Guidelines – Editorial Guidelines
- Europa Web Guide
- Buffer.com
- Apple Style Guide and Google Style Guide
- Canada Post
- Microsoft Style Guide
- IBM Developer Works Editorial Style Guide
Well tied in with design and development
- Shopify Polaris
- Asphalt / GoJek
- Atlassian
- Google Developer Documentation Style Guide
- Salesforce Voice and Tone
Content style guides that focus on inclusivity and accessibility
Podcasts
For my podcast Efficiently Effective I’ve made episodes that were about content style guides. You might find them interesting as well:
- Do you really need a content style guide?
- When interfaces get into character – an interview with Shopify’s Amy Thibodeau
They can also be found in your podcast app.
Other
As mentioned in my presentation about content style guides, a deck of cards with adjectives is a great tool to find out what your voice attributes are. I’ve developed my own but if you and your team are fluent in English, save yourself the trouble and get the Brandsort deck developed by Margot Bloomstein.
Do you know of any interesting resources I should add? Let me know in the comments!