DGT Branding Toolkit and Style Guidelines

WRITTEN STYLE

Dates and time Our house style for dates is as follows: 19 April 2017 in text or: • 19.04.17 if another format, for example a table • 1930s (not 1930’s – remember the apostrophe rule) • the thirties (not the ‘30s) • 2017-2020, but • from 2017 to 2020 (not from 2017-2020) • from 18 September to 12 November • 2017/18 (where a single year, for instance a financial year, comprises parts of two calendar years). Preferred style for time is the twelve hour clock with am or pm, with the value written in figures separated by a stop, like this: I suggest we meet at my office at 3.30pm on 19 April 2017. When the time is on the hour it should be written like this: The meeting will start at 10am on 12 June 2017. Double spaces We should be consistent in the way we supply documents to our customers, both internally and externally. Avoid double spacing between words and sentences.

Font size We should ensure that our material is accessible. Type should ideally be in 11 point size as it’s easy to read, prints well, and conforms to the minimum size recommended for people with a sight problem. However, this isn’t always possible because of space. Judgement is required.

Hyphens Hyphens should be used to avoid ambiguity, for example:

• four year-old children (four children aged one) • four-year-old children (children aged four) • little-frequented place (a place with few visitors) • little frequented place (a small place that is often visited);

They should also be used when nouns are formed from prepositional verbs, for example, build-up or shake-up.

If in doubt, compare whether using or not using a hyphen best conveys the sense you want. Whatever you do, be consistent when repeating hyphenated words or phrases throughout the text. Note: hyphens should not have any space around them; dashes should.

Do not split an email address over two lines.

e.g., i.e., etc. and n.b.

Here are some common hyphenated words: • 24-hour • world-class

Except in tables or forms avoid Latin abbreviations such as e.g. and use for example or for instance instead. Similarly, use that is instead of i.e.

• first-class • anti-social • one-hour, two-hour, etc