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VENDOSTYLE GUIDE
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CONTENTS
1 : LOGO ____________________________ 4
2 : TYPEFACE _________________________ 4
3 : PAGE MARGINS _____________________ 5
4 : LETTERHEAD ______________________ 6
5 : EMAIL ____________________________ 7
6 : REPORTS__________________________ 8
7 : PROPOSALS _______________________ 9
8 : WRITING GUIDE ___________________ 10
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How should I use it?
The Vendo logo must be presented with consistency
and care whenever it appears.
Black
Use this version on proposals, reports, letters,
e-mails and other company documents.
Type specications
Use the following type specications in your layout.
Heading
Gill Sans 12pt (Capitals, Bold)
Body text
Verdana 9pt
Verdana
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
P Q R S T U V W X Y Za b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q
r s t u v w x y z
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Gill Sans
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q
R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u
v w x y z
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1: LOGO
2: TYPEFACE
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Use the following guide to format your layout ensuring
consistency across all Vendo communications.
Margins
Top 35mm
Bottom 25mm
Inside 25mm
Outside 25mm
3: DOCUMENT MARGINS
25mm 25mm
35mm
25mm
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E-mail signatures
The style for all e-mail signatures is to be consistent.
This will be set up as standard within each new e-mail
account throughout the organisation.
Specications
No personalisation of e-mail signatures and styles will
be allowed at all.
Typeface
The font is Verdana 9pt. The job title should be bold.
Style
The writers name then their job title should each be on
a separate line.
The logo follows on the next line.
The four lines of address, telephone, fax number, e-mail
and website follow, left aligned.
Geordie ReaOperations Manager
99 Lambton Quay, WellingtonPO Box 10-900, WellingtonT: 04 912 3456 F: 04 913 3456E-mail: [email protected]
5: E-MAIL
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All reports must follow the same format:
Executive summary
Succinct statement that encompasses, briey,
the subject, methods, ndings, conclusions and
recommendations.
Content
The structure of the report should follow these main
headings:
> Executive summary
> Project progress
> Costs
> Project outcomes
> Future considerations
Language
Our clients are business people from all walks of
life.
A popular strength of this company is that we
advocate Plain English communications. All of
our communications must reect this practice
and comply with a style that is clear, concise and
appealing.
Use short simple words and sentences.
Limit sentences to one thought and keep them brief
(an average of 20 or fewer words).
Use the correct words.
We endeavour to replace high-own wording,
jargon and clichd expressions with straightforward
language.
Avoid long, rambling paragraphs
If a paragraph is longer than 20 lines, break it up or
review the content.
When drafting your document, always begin
with an outline
This will help you organise your document and keep
it focused and on track.Report template
vendo_report.dotx
DATE:
TO:
BY:
6: REPORTS
Organise the material
Where the document templates do not
provide a specic structure, organise
sections, enclosures and appendices so
that earlier paragraphs serve to make
later paragraphs clear.
When possible, use paragraph headings
to highlight important concepts so the
reader may see at a glance what the
paragraph is about.
Executive summary must mention
briey both the subject and the
intention.
Layout
Use Style Guide and Template provided.
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Very similar to Reports, all proposals must follow
the same format. If you are responding to an RFP,
then the response must be in the format the RFP has
requested.
Executive summary
> Objective
> Goals
> Solutions
Vital content
A proposal is a selling document even an internal
proposal to management. When developing your
content, keep these points in mind and make sure
you include the who, what, where, how, when, why.
Who
Who will do the work, who will manage the work,
who does the customer call if there is a problem, who
is responsible for what.
What
What needs to be done/delivered, what will be
required to do it, what can the customer expect,
what it will cost.
Where
Where will the work be done, where will it be
delivered.
How
How will be work be done, how will it be deployed,
how will it be managed, how will you achieve quality
assurance and customer satisfaction, how will risks
be mitigated, how long will it take, how will the workbenet the customer.
When
When will you start, when will key milestones be
scheduled, when will the project be complete, when
is payment due.
Why
Why have you chosen the approaches and
alternatives you have selected, why the customer
should select you.
Proposal template
vendo_proposal.dotx
DATE:
TO:
BY:
7: PROPOSALS
Structure
The structure of the proposal is exible,
but likely sections will include:
> Table of contents
> Executive summary
> Background
> Proposal
> What staff want
> Costs and benets
> Te Reo education
> Timeline
> Recommendation
> Contact details
Layout
Use Style Guide and Template provided.
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This guide is to be your reference for any company
documents you create. Because Vendo specialises
in business communications, consistency of writing
style is of equal importance to our company image as
consistency with our branding.
Plain English
A popular strength of this company is that we
advocate Plain English communications. All of our
communications must reect this practice and complywith a style that is clear, concise and appealing.
Use short simple words and sentences
Limit sentences to one thought and keep them brief (an
average of 20 or fewer words).
Use the correct words. See appendix 1 for a list
of preferred words. We endeavour to replace high-
own wording, jargon and clichd expressions with
straightforward language.
Avoid long, rambling paragraphs
If a paragraph is longer than 20 lines, break it up or
review the content.
When drafting your document
Always begin with an outline, listing your thoughts
and collating any essential content. This will help you
organise your document and keep it focused and on
track.
Organise the material
Where the document templates do not provide a
specic structure, organise sections, enclosures and
appendices. You want the earlier paragraphs to make
later paragraphs clear in other words touch on each
subject at the beginning and then esh it out properly
later. When possible, use paragraph headings to
highlight important concepts so the reader may see at a
glance what the paragraph is about.
Use short simple words and
sentences
PLAIN ENGLISH
Avoid long, rambling
paragraphs
When drafting your document,
begin with an outline
Organise the material
8: WRITING GUIDE
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Use the active voice
For general business communications, write in the
active voice, not the passive voice.
What is the difference?
The passive voice depersonalises a statement. It
says that something was done [by someone], rather
than using a direct statement like He did that. It
has a place, most certainly, but not in our day-to-day
business documents.
Use of the passive voice was common in business
documents last century. It made the writer sound
rather important, making heavy weather of everyday
business activities:
A written agreement was executed by both parties.
This style is slightly cagey and avoids naming the
person who carries out an action, or puts the action
rst and the doer as an afterthought or not at all.
Why avoid use of the passive voice in our
documents
We want our business communications to be recognised
as clear and honest. The use of the passive voice can
be ambiguous and misleading, or at least read that
way. Look at these sentences:
Passive
Mistakes were made.
Active
Blue Top Limited acknowledges that about 50 litres of
milk seeped into the waterway.
Its good business to be honest and to take
responsibility. Unless you want to minimise the fact,
real people did make the mistakes and some other real
people let the milk seep into the waterway.
When should you use the
passive voice?
The passive voice does have a
place in scientic and technical
reports, where you want to convey
objectivity and not highlight
personal individual involvement:
for example:
Passive
A number of things are indicated
by these results.
Active
These results indicate a number
of things.
The sentence written in the active
voice implies that the writer
personally is saying what the
results indicate.The sentence written in the
passive voice sounds more
impartial and indicates that
scientic analysis drew those
conclusions from the results.
8: WRITING GUIDE
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