23 Editorial Style

What do product and service names, taglines, headlines, body copy, captions, and sidebars have in common? If you hope to build a successful identity program, let’s hope you answered “editorial style.” Successful identity programs use a consistent editorial style that addresses their intended audience and remains cognizant of their brand positioning.

Just as a graphic identity sets a visual tone for identity programs, names and taglines set the tone for the program’s editorial style. A name that underscores an organization’s solid foundation of dependability might lead more naturally into an editorial style that echoes themes of tradition, stability, and trust. On the other hand, an irreverent name or tagline builds an expectation for fun and playfulness in the minds of readers, which should be played out in the editorial style.

Details strengthen identity programs, but programs too often fail to define and pursue an appropriate editorial style across all program literature. If a company could swap out it’s competitor’s website copy for it’s own without the audience noticing the change, that company has missed an opportunity to differentiate itself.

1. Senate Square
The O Group
Jason B. Cohen, J. Kenneth Rothermich, Miriam Weiskind, Tal Gendelman, Alex Ammar, Jeff Wolfram, Moment Factory

2. Bretenic Limited
Zync
Marko Zonta, Mike Kasperski

You don’t normally want to read an invoice, but here, you’ll be glad you did. A conversational editorial style is one way of being engaging and memorable.