Welcome

What is this thing, anyway?

Hello and welcome to the Pixel Union Style Guide. If you're looking for sartorial tips like how much sock to show with your sneakers, you're in the wrong place. (Ask a Chris.)

If, however, you're looking to write clearly and consistently across teams and channels, that is what this guide is all about. Please bookmark it and use it as a reference when writing for Pixel Union.

This style guide is essentially our brand playbook. It answers general questions about the Pixel Union brand and how we communicate as a group. It also answers granular questions like "Should I use a serial comma?" and "Is it checkout, check out, or check-out?" (Spoiler: It depends!)

Who is it for and how do I use it?

Do you write articles for the Pixel Union blog? Do you tweet from the @pixelunion handle? Do you have long conversations with frustrated Shopify merchants about image aspect ratios and nested navigation menus? If so, this guide is for you!

It's also for anyone wondering when to capitalize "internet" (never!) or how to craft a sentence true to Pixel Union's voice and tone. As this is a public document, we welcome any outsiders curious about how we communicate as a brand. We hope you learn something.

As you can see in the menu to the left, we've organized the guide by descriptively-named chapters. Find the topic you're looking for, or search by keyword. The guide is designed to read beautifully from start to finish, so if you'd like to take a deep dive into our voice, tone, and style—well, we'd be flattered. 😊

Is this really that important?

YES.

We are growing all the time, with more and more people communicating on behalf of the company. Whether you're writing a support article, reaching out to a potential agency client, or designing a new feature for one of our apps, it is extremely important that we all follow these guidelines and make the effort to communicate in a unified voice.

By creating clarity and consistency in the way we communicate, we will provide a more cohesive, professional, enjoyable brand experience for our readers and partners.

What if something's missing?

We've put a lot of time and effort into this guide, but one thing it definitely isn't is perfect (we'll award that distinction to our inspiration for this project, Mailchimp). While we're pretty sure most of the really important components are present and accounted for, you'll invariably find that some of the nitty-gritty details are missing. For that, we apologize.

But another thing this guide isn't is static. Or definitive. If you can't find an answer, or if you don't like an answer you've found, just let us know. The goal here isn't to issue a bunch of rules and defend them until the end of time.

Like our ever-evolving company, we consider this style guide a living document that will grow, morph, and improve with the contributions of our team.

We welcome feedback in any form.