Brand Guidelines

Style Rules

HWI follows The Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS), 16th edition, for grammar, punctuation, and style guidelines, and Merriam-Webster Unabridged for spellings and hyphenations. Exceptions are listed below.

Exceptions to Style

Capitalization

No periods after headlines

Unless a term is truly a proper noun, like “Diamond Service program,” it should be lowercased.

Similarly, job titles like “president” and “general manager” are normally not capitalized unless they immediately precede a person’s name (e.g., “President Smith”

Product names are all caps. ® should be used on 1st instance on the page.

Commas

Use Oxford Comma. (ex: And by bringing intensity, reliability, and passion to work every day, we’re able to provide superior value to our customers and their businesses.)

Hyphens

Compound adjectives are typically hyphenated before the noun. (ex: Value-Added Service)

Specialized terms exist in which a hyphen may imply a connection that does not exist. Hyphens should be added where appropriate, with the final decision being made by the marketing department.

All prefixes should be hyphenated.

Numbers

Single-digit numbers should be spelled out. However, exceptions may be made for visual reasons.

Other Punctuation

Spell out ”and” in running text but use an ampersand in headlines.

Backslashes should have no space before or after in running text. Exceptions can be made for headlines.