Blog Design For Dummies

4

Establishing a Style Guide

In This Chapter

Looking at why you need a style guide

Deciding what to add to your guide

Building your guide

Understanding special considerations for blogs with multiple contributors

Wouldn’t it be great to have one place you could refer to regarding all the design and content decisions you make for your blog? Well, that’s where a style guide comes in.

Both print and web designers have long used style guides. A company might have an editorial style guide that lays out their content’s voice and tone. They might also have a branding style guide or brand book that provides detailed information about their brand’s core message along with branding do’s and don’ts. I once saw a large company’s guide that was nearly 100 pages long!

As a blogger, you don’t have to go that crazy. You can combine everything into a simple style guide for your blog. This chapter explores why you should create a style guide and what to potentially include in yours. I also show you how easy it is to create a simple style guide. Finally, I walk you through special considerations for ...