The fascinating history of ink and communication

People often ask me about my business name, ‘Maybury Ink’. Well the ‘Maybury’ part is easy – it’s my surname, and it’s fairly uncommon, so I used it hoping it would be memorable rather than difficult to recall! And the ‘Ink’ isn’t to sound like a tattoo studio (well mostly – I am quite fond of body art), it’s because ink completely transformed the way we communicate. And that’s what I aim to help businesses do – transform their communication, both visually and in words.

The history of ink is fascinating. Our history is written in ink. Literally. Using ink we have recorded events, knowledge and stories for thousands of years.

Ink was first used to for artistic purposes some 40,000 years ago. It decorated cave walls, animal skins and bodies. That’s a long history of visual communication.

Writing emerged around 3200 BCE. However, it took until 2500 BCE for ink to be used for writing in both Egypt and China, coinciding with the development of the first paper, papyrus (made from the water plant), followed by parchment (made from animal skin). Inks were made using various concoctions of blood, ochre, sap and resins, soot, oil, beeswax and vinegar.

For thousands of years all writing was done by hand, with woodblock printing being used significantly from the 2nd century in China. Both methods were labour intensive, and thus expensive. So written works were not widespread, nor was literacy.

Moveable type (single blocks for each character) was invented in China in the 2nd century but wasn’t widely used until the 12th century, and it took until the 15th century to reach Europe. There it culminated in the mechanical printing press developed by Gutenberg, and the development of oil-based inks containing carbon, copper, lead and titanium. The printing press made mass production of books possible, and thus began the industrial era of printing.

With the written word more widespread than ever before, literacy increased across Europe (and interestingly this is what led to the standardisation of spelling). However, printing was still in the hands of an elite few until the advent of the typewriter in the 1860s. This led to a further development in ink, with most typewriters using an ink-soaked ribbon. The typewriter transformed business communication in efficiency, presentation and professionalism.

By the 20th century books and newspapers were widely available and accessible. It was during this time that office machinery significantly progressed and business communication reached a new level. The photocopier was commercialised in the late 1950s, and then computerised printing with laser and dot matrix printers in the 1970s and inkjet printers in the 1980s.

Today, most of our homes have printers (the machines can cost less than the ink refills we use in them!). Newspaper print circulations have declined. Many books are printed on demand. Or they aren’t even printed – they’re listened to or read on a screen (some using electronic ink!).

In our businesses we are printing less in our offices, and less for our marketing and communication activities due to the rise of digital marketing channels. But while the use of ink has declined, the level and importance of communication continues to grow and transform.

If you'd like some help to transform your business communication, please get in touch, or visit my website for details about what I do.

Capital offence: the rules for using capital letters

Using capital letters correctly will improve the professionalism of your business writing.

Capital letters are often overused and used inconsistently. Other than looking unprofessional, incorrect capitalisation can decrease readability, which impacts communication and engagement. This overview will help you avoid committing any capital offences!

Always capitalise …

There are two fundamental rules about what to capitalise: 

1. Sentences should always begin with a capital letter.
2. Initial capitals should be used for proper nouns – the names of places, people and organisations.

Some examples

• Buildings and public places, e.g. Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne Town Hall
• Holidays and events, e.g. Labour Day, Small Business Festival Victoria
• Organisation and business names, e.g. Moreland Energy Foundation, Gauge Espresso
• Trademarks, brand and product names, e.g. Aeroplane Jelly, Beechworth Pale Ale
• Titles, e.g. Ms, Dr, Minister
• Legislation (also italicised), e.g. Copyright Act 1968
• Journals, newspapers and magazines (also italicised), e.g. The Age, Journal of Marketing Communications

Rarely capitalise ... 

Articles, prepositions and conjuctions (such as ‘a’, ‘and’, 'in', 'of' ‘or’, 'the') are only capitalised at the beginning of sentences, headings or titles. For example, 'the' is capitalised in newspaper title The Australian, but 'of' is not capitalised in National Gallery of Victoria.

Exceptions

Sometimes the normal rules of capitalisation are broken for stylistic reasons. A brand or product name may not have an initial capital, such as the iconic iPhone. Or capitals may be abandoned altogether, as is the preference of singer k.d. lang.

You choose ...

Further to these rules, you have a choice of capitalisation style for things like headings and book titles. Traditionally maximal capitalisation was the norm. Modern, minimalist style means limited capitalisation is now common.

In my opinion, minimal capitalisation looks cleaner and is more readable. However, if you prefer maximal capitalisation, then use it! The key is to be consistent with the style you choose. Ensure your preferred capitalisation style is added to your business’s writing style guide.

Examples using minimal capitalisation

• General titles and headings, e.g. What is content marketing?
• Book titles, periodicals, articles, web documents (also italicised), e.g. The vanishing act of Esme Lennox, All marketers are liars
• Song titles (also in quotation marks), e.g. ‘Dazed and confused’, ‘Boots of Spanish leather’
• Movies, television and radio programs, podcasts, e.g. Upper middle bogan, The bridge on the River Kwai

Examples using maximal capitalisation

• General titles and headings, e.g. What is Content Marketing?
• Book titles, periodicals, articles, web documents (also italicised), e.g. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, All Marketers are Liars
• Song titles (also in quotation marks), e.g. ‘Dazed and Confused’, ‘Boots of Spanish Leather’
• Movies, television and radio programs, podcasts, e.g. Upper Middle Bogan, The Bridge on the River Kwai

FULLY CAPITALISED HEADINGS

When formatting documents with multiple heading hierarchies, I would suggest ALL CAPS be used sparingly. This style may be required to differentiate between hierarchies, but be aware that readability is compromised when lengthy headings are formatted using all capitals. For shorter headings this isn’t such an issue.

More ...

For more grammar tips, see my blog posts on writing time and using dashes correctly.

If you need someone to finesse your business writing or you want a writing style guide developed for your business, get in touch with me!

Brand impacts: poor grammar and spelling in social media

I am surprised and dismayed at how regularly I see poor grammar, spelling mistakes and typos in business social media posts. And not just one-off errors, but multiple mistakes.

The importance of correct grammar and quality writing in all business communication cannot be overstated. It’s crucial in presenting your business as professional and trustworthy. When business writing is poor, it can quickly negatively impact your reputation. And that’s not how you want to differentiate your brand.

Making an occasional error in business social media posts is forgivable, and shows we are human. You might argue that it adds authenticity! Even those of us who are fussy about spelling and grammar make mistakes. (If you do notice an error in your post, edit and fix it immediately.)

A Facebook post by a small business offering sales training services prompted me to write this. In the post they had used ‘too’ instead of ‘to’, ‘their’ instead of ‘there’, and ‘weeks’ without an apostrophe when one was needed. And being extra picky, I’d point out the irregular use of double spaces (these are a hangover from typewriter days and unnecessary in modern typography – they are jarring and break the flow of reading). As well as using too many dots in ellipses (which consist of three full stops … with a space either side).

These errors may seem trivial, and some people wouldn’t notice them or care, however, those of us who are particular about such things (and there are many of us) would be left with a negative association with that brand. It made me question the quality and professionalism of the sales training the company would offer.

If you’re not good with spelling and grammar and want to avoid damaging your brand asset, here are a few tips:

• Review your post before publishing it, and check anything you’re uncertain of.
• Educate yourself on the common mistakes you make and develop a cheatsheet you can refer to.
• Write your posts in Word and use the spelling and grammar check (however, this is not foolproof).
• Get a colleague who is a spelling and grammar whiz to check your writing.
•  Invest in a professional writer/editor.

By improving the writing and grammar in your social media, you will protect your brand. It’s one of those things that no one notices you’re doing well, but it certainly gets noticed when you’re not. And it can impact your bottom-line.

A matter of time

I recently wrote about the correct way to write dates. Now it’s time to tackle times. However, times are a little trickier, as there are various acceptable ways to write them.

The key is to be consistent with the style you choose to ensure the professionalism of your business writing. Your preferred style of writing the time should be added to your business’s writing style guide.

The modern, visually clean way to write the time is presented in these examples:

9am
12.30pm

Capitals should be avoided (not 9AM or 12.30PM).
No full stops between ‘am’ and ‘pm’ (not 9a.m. or 12.30p.m.).
No colons (not 12:30pm).
Some people prefer a space after the numbers (9 am, 12.30 pm).

As you can see, I choose not to use two zeros to indicate even hours (e.g. 9.00am), unless in a particular situation it looks odd not include them, or impacts on readability or comprehension.

Time spans

To show a time span use an en dash:

7–11am
11am–3pm

To write times spans in prose:

We are open from 7am to 11am.
Lunch is available between 11am and 3pm.

24 hour time

Four digits are always used for 24 hour time. The first two for the hours, the last two for minutes. For example:

0900 hours (9am)
1230 hours (12.30pm)
2020 hours (8.20pm)

If you need help to hone your business writing, or to develop a writing style guide, contact me.

The right way to write dates

Yes, there is a correct way to write dates. A way that clearly communicates, is logical and visually clean. Writing the date in the correct way will add to the professionalism of your business writing. Be sure to add it to your business’s writing style guide.

The correct format is:

1 August 2017

No punctuation. No ‘st’. No ‘of’. It’s much more appealing than:

August 1, 2017 or

1st August, 2017

If you need to use the name of the day, a comma is used to separate it from the date:

Tuesday, 1 August 2017

The correct way to write dates in figures is:

1.8.2017 or
1.8.17

Using slashes is not technically correct, such as 1/8/2017. Slashes should be used to indicate things like alternatives (yes/no), abbreviations (a/c), fractions (1/3) and per (60km/h). Financial years are often written incorrectly using a slash, e.g. 2016/17. Instead it should be 2016–17, using a en dash.

If you need help to sharpen your business writing, or to develop a writing style guide for your business, get in touch with me.

A writing style guide is an important branding tool

A writing style guide is an important tool in your organisation’s branding kit. Written consistency is just as important as visual consistency when building a strong brand.

A writing style guide outlines the ‘written voice’ of your organisation, as well as detailing preferred editorial choices.

Written voice is how your organisation’s brand personality is expressed in words. It relates to language style, sentence construction, and the types of words and phrases used. It defines how formal or informal, serious or humorous, detached or warm the writing style is. Your organisation’s written voice can help it stand out, and ensure efficient and effective communication with your target audience.

Editorial choices in a writing style guide relate to specifics such as capitalisation, abbreviations and acronyms, how dates and numbers are written, and spelling preferences, to name a few. Editorial consistency adds to the professionalism of your organisation.

A writing style guide is a tool that can be used by all staff, and for writers, editors or other consultants.

Contact me if you want to discuss developing a writing style guide for your organisation.