Style guide, guide THE TIMES

What should I use for the company brochure? Café or Cafe? Use the black color for the title, or use the other color? Writers, editors or designers may raise different questions when preparing the writings or document presentations for its organization.

In order to determine the standards and guidelines for an organization’s publication, a style guide is needed. Actually, a style guide is a set of standards for design and writing of documents, it includes rules and suggestions for design and writing style.

Benefits of using the style guide for design and writing documents:

• Conform to corporate image and policy
• To inform new staff of existing style
• To define the negotiable style issue
• To improve consistency
• To remind and clarify the style decision for the staff

Here is a good example of style guide of The Times, “The Times Style and Usage Guide” prepared by the Chief revise editor Richard Dixon in 2003. It is a very comprehensive style guide for its writers and sub-editors.

The alphabetical list has been augmented by:

• What's New section

Special Sections:

• Armed Forces
• Arts
• Churches
• Courts
• Politics
• Sport
• Titles

Writers and sub-editors may find reference easily through the style guide, and confusion could be avoided in order to increase the efficiency of the work.

References:

• “Design Styles” in COMM1043 Issues in Publication and Design, Tutorial 5 Notes 2008, The university of South Australia Adelaide
• Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
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