V oice & W riting S ty l e
HIGH POINT BRAND STYLE GUIDE
VERSION 1
MASTER STYLE LIST
IN GENERAL
PUNCTUATION
• We value clarity over complexity. We don’t have to sound smart. We have to be clear and accessible to everyone in the community.
• Use consistent punctuation
• We aren’t afraid of using contractions. As a matter of fact, we prefer them. We like to write like people talk. We speak human.
HEADLINES • Headlines should be short, clear, and “hook” the user into reading more • Use “&” instead of “and”
• Use the em-dash when it makes sense. It helps to add a sense of drama that compliments our bold tone nicely • Use spaces around the em-dash • Do not end bulleted or numbered lists in periods, unless the list item contains multiple sentences. • Do not hyphenate paragraphs • Don’t use the Oxford comma unless it helps avoid confusion
• Use Title Case, not sentence case • Use periods when writing in sentences
FORMATTING • Capitalize the first word in a sentence
THIS IS A GUIDE TO THE GREY AREAS IN G R A M M A R , S P E LL I N G , A N D C O M M O N LY CONFUSED STYLES. THIS LIST IS NOT C O M P R E H E N S I V E . W H E N I N D O U B T, R E F E R T O A RECENT VERSION OF THE AP STYLE GUIDE.
• Phone numbers should be written with hyphens. Do not use periods or parentheses. For example: 123-456-7890 • Use en-dash when referring to time ranges instead of words like “through, to, or thru”
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