The things in this document refer equally to pitches, bids, public blogging under the acidlabs banner, social media, etc. Consistency is <insert non-gender-specific royal title here>.
The business name is acidlabs in all cases. The letter "a" in acidlabs is always lower case unless stupid things like Facebook prevent us from doing so. e.g. At acidlabs, we work with you to make your business better.
When naming a project, the format is XXfyfynn <client acronym or name> <some project name>, where:
- XX - an all caps two-letter code for the organisation we're working with or through. Internal projects will use AC for acidlabs. Where we have directly won the engagement, we'll use a code that makes it apparent who the client is. If we are loaning out someone to another studio or agency, we create a similar code for them. For example, FX for FinXL and UB for Unbranded Sports Preparation.
- fyfy - two digits representing the financial year the project began. So, for example, a project starting in the 2017-2018 financial year will use 1718.
- nn - two digits incremented to show how many projects we've done across the entire financial year. The first project is 01, and so on. Project numbers for an individual client won't necessarily be consecutive, as other projects will occur in between.
_<some project name>_- a descriptive name for the project.
When you create a new project, it must be created using the naming in the following places:
- Basecamp
- the Projects Team Drive, where you'll also need to create the folder structure we use
- Xero, where you'll also need to create the client if they are new
Optionally, it can also be created in:
- Smaply, if we're likely to design personas or journeys
- Evernote, if you use it
- as a tag in your email if you follow this practice
By preference, email is sent plain text or rich text and never HTML (unless it's an EDM).
Our .sigfile format is:
--
<your name>
<Your role>
<email>@acidlabs.design | <mobile phone number> | www.acidlabs.design
@<twitter handle> | <optional personal links such as about.me, LinkedIn, Medium, blog, Skype, etc.>
acidlabs | Better by design
We meet and work on the land of the Ngunnawal people and acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.
acidlabs is a Certified B Corporation <link title to http://bcorporation.com.au/>
We don't do legal disclaimers or those kinds of things in our email .sigfiles.
We do highly value the Acknowledgement of Country in our email .sigfiles; if you live somewhere else in Australia, you can replace the Ngunnawal people with the name of the traditional owners of the land where you live. If you live outside Australia and there's an equivalent First Peoples acknowledgement where you are, feel free to use it.
If there's no equivalent where you are, this space can be anything that interests you or that you enjoy - work, personal, etc. - so long as it's professional in tone. It's okay for it to be amusing or a little irreverent; we're not the fun police.
e.g. We work flexibly. I'm sending you this email now because it suits me, but there is no expectation you read, respond or action it outside of your regular working hours.
The Macquarie Dictionary is your friend. As the official dictionary of Australian English, it generally accepts both alternatives of what are considered to be British and American English spellings. We have a few common practices:
- simpler, less flourishy, spellings are better, e.g. favorite not favourite
- we use "s" rather than "z" in things such as "ise", e.g. organise not organize
- we tend not to use periods in abbreviations, e.g. USA not U.S.A., Ms not Ms.
- check it using Grammarly or something similar
- our preferred citation method is APA and we use Cite This For Me to help us build citations and references
- failing all else, just be consistent and don't mix spelling and grammar styles
We refer to "we", "us" and "our team" when referring to anything we do, did, or propose to do collectively. e.g. We will work with you to identify and quantify the project backlog. Our team will then work in two-week sprints.
In cases where a particular staff member requires identification, we use their given or preferred name (if appropriate), and the pronoun set they have said they choose to use. e.g. Steve has worked as a service designer with a range of federal agencies. He is most proud of his work with DVA helping veterans.
In formal written communications including proposals and contracts:
- Stephen
- Nathanael
- Kara
In communication with existing clients and spoken form (all instances):
- Steve
- Nat
- Kara
In cases where an individual can be recognised for a particular skill, action, or achievement, we use their first name and the pronouns they choose to use. This applies to business development materials such as bids, as well as marketing and communication materials such as blog posts. e.g. Nathanael has extensive experience as an Agile Coach, and Kara is best buddies with Joe Biden.
Accept that language is changing and mutable. English probably more than many other languages, as it is spoken and regionalised in many places. Adapt and adopt where it makes sense. Orwell's Politics and the English Language remains relevant more than 70 years after it was written, though George would probably not be a fan of some modern, regionalised uses. His rules, however, hold true:
- Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.
In general, we are brief, to the point, no fluff, no filler, actually frank and fearless, controversial if appropriate, professional but not stale. Raise some eyebrows, but don't let them fall asleep.
Of course.
Not sure about something? Ask. And if there's no definitive answer, the Buzzfeed Style Guide is actually very good and works for the kind of modern, no-nonsense language we want to use.