Voice and Tone: My letter to a new designer
When approaching Voice and Tone for a brand, marketing, article/blog, writings, or conversations, it is easy to get lost in putting together the puzzle of perfect phrasing. Harriet Cummings, does a wonderful job in her article Tone and Voice, to go in depth on the review of approaching and understating tone and voice. Cummings reviews the approach of Tone as the context and formatting that is used to covey a topic, Voice is the medium we use to communicate.
In the blog post by Tom Albrighton, How to define your brand’s tone of voice, it is best summarized in his conclusion. Over thinking the problem often leads to little, and it is best to understand the concepts as a primary approach to your process. There are a few great examples Tom uses “If you want your communications to be in harmony, you’ve got to keep control of the tone” that help to understand the need for balance and relevance in tone and voice.
The style guide for Mail Chimp is a wonderful source for a straightforward approach to implementing the Voice and Tone of a product. Extrapolating the root of the information and simplifying it down, you see that tone is how we say what we want and voice is “Human” it’s what guides the content. Their idea of keeping it fun, but not focused on entertaining is a curious way to say that it needs to be accessible and engaging without degrading the content for the idea of entertainment.
When you put it all together, and there are many great readings that can be used for a basis. Human factors are key in looking into the focus of the Tone and Voice.
What are you trying to say?
Why are you saying it that way?
Did you say what was needed to understand? Did you say more, less?
Who is receiving this?
By asking yourself questions about the content of the, who is receiving it, the concepts it represents. The Tone and Voice will come out. For example, you wouldn’t present a washing machine with the same Tone and Voice as you would a Soda. Not due to intensive research, you intuitive understand that the market (as a consumer) would not receive Soda explained as technical necessity that is important to know about its production and standards. Give yourself some credit as a consumer; imagine you are an expert in the field for the product you are working with. You will quickly find yourself thinking like the consumer you are targeting and your Tone and Voice will quickly follow.
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