Editorial
Our brand story must remain consistent throughout our organization. We have developed the following guidelines should help you apply the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries’ brand to the writing you do on behalf of the institution.
If you have specific questions that are not addressed in our guidelines, please email us at librarynews@uta.edu.
Key Narrative Requirements
As we tell our story, it is important to maintain the integrity of our brand and maintain an authentic representation of who we are. Much like our visual identity, our voice is an important element of our brand.
Before you begin writing, we encourage you to ask yourself:
- How does my message support the UTA Libraries brand?
- What does this say about UTA Libraries?
Important Notes
We call ourselves “UTA Libraries” to (a) encompass all three of our branches and (b) reflect how each of us who work in the Libraries are an extension of the institution.
“UTA Libraries” acts as a singular noun because, when discussed as an institution, it is a singular property. Example: “UTA Libraries is honored to welcome new and returning students for the spring semester.”
When possible, on the website and on social media, we try to refer to ourselves informally (with pronouns) rather than formally (by name) to express our welcoming and approachable nature. Example: “We provide a host of services on the first floor of Central Library.”
We also encourage you to review our Personality page. This page will give you additional insight and guidance for your writing and messaging.
For more detailed information regarding university editorial guidelines, please visit the Editorial Guidelines website of the UTA Identity System.
When we first mention UTA Libraries, we spell out “The University of Texas at Arlington”; after that, we use “UTA.” This hierarchy is in line with University Communications guidelines.
UTA Libraries’ brand voice embodies our brand personality traits.
These words don’t necessarily appear in our writing, but rather drive the tone we take in our storytelling—they are the undercurrent of our brand voice.
The tone of your writing is its driving force—the how. Word choice, sentence and paragraph structure, and point-of-view (first vs. third person) can change the way your story reads, the same way color, aesthetic, and font choice can achieve different moods in visual design.
We recommend drafting your communications in advance, so you have time to ask yourself if your writing is:
- Ambitious: risk-taking, dreamer, determined
- Innovative: curious, visionary, inventive
- Authentic: real, true to yourself and your voice
- Friendly: welcoming, inviting, and approachable
- Creative: playful, artistic, daring
When you represent UTA Libraries—whether on our blog, website, or social media—it’s important to keep our brand voice in mind and to find your writing style within the guidelines we’ve outlined for staff.
General
- It’s important to know your audience
- Generally, 8th grade reading level for web
- We try to avoid being overly academic, as we want to appeal to readers beyond academic circles
- It is important to make your content visually appealing – use images and lists to break up longer sections
- We encourage our writers to find their style within the branding voice we’ve established for UTA Libraries—each writer is an expert in their field and we trust them to convey our brand in their own unique ways
Blog-Specific Tips
- Blog posts are generally 450-1,500 words long
- It’s great to make a post timely and to engage with topics of the day but it should offer a fresh perspective
Writing for the Website
- Similar standards apply from blog writing
- Our one cohesive voice is especially important on the website—we don’t want to jar users as they jump from page to page. We encourage our content editors to bear this in mind when making edits or creating new content.