We’ve talked about the need for a style book for your company. It makes all your output – your website copy, stationery, business cards, brochures even internal documents – conform. It makes you look professional and shows you have attention to detail.

So how do you go about compiling a style book?

Go back to basics: look at your company’s mission statement and the message and impression you want to deliver. Then select styles which will fit in. For example, if you are a serious corporate you won’t want Comic Sans as your font. If you’re a children’s entertainer, that’d may be the one for you. So, have a look at fonts. Most commonly used are Arial or Verdana.

Consider point size: as a guide, 9 or 10pt for websites and 11 or12pt for literature.

Do you want to use the Americanized ‘…ize’ or the more English ‘…ise’ for words such as ‘organisation’ and ‘recognise’. Either is correct, but stick to one or the other.

Should job titles be capped up or in lower case? Are you the Managing Director, the managing director or the MD? How do you write you company name? Are you Limited or Ltd.

A good starting point is to go through some of your current company copy and pick out what you do and don’t like and just begin writing a set of rules - which is all a style book or style guide is.

Be very clear about your colours. Sticking to the same ones throughout will help strengthen your brand identity.

Once you have compiled your style guide then make sure it is issued to everyone in the company and to all subsequent recruits. If everyone sings from the same hymn sheet (or style guide, in this case) you will greatly enhance your reputation and help your team feel part of the business.