3. What is a 'House Style'?

Basically a house style is a set of rules which state how all documents and written communication from a business should be formatted.

It will govern things such as

- the colours to be used

- the font style and size

- where the logo should appear

- whether text should be right, centre or fully justified

- how the address and contact details should be presented

House styles can be applied to many types of documents and methods of communcation. Here are a few examples:

• Letter headed paper
• Business cards
• Memos
• Faxes
• Reports
• Presentation slides
• Signage
• Advertising
• Brochures
• Product manuals

and all the other ways a company uses to communicate with its customers.

You know that a successful house style is in operation when you have a strong image in your head when you think of a certain company in terms of colour and style.