Use brief and specific subject lines to increase your email’s open rate; avoid exclamation points and other punctuation.
Keep the body of your email concise to get your key points across. Have a lot to say? Consider a quick summary up top or use bold text or bullets for readability.
Make calls to action clear.
Use the first and second person. “You” and “we” will help your writing feel more friendly, individualized and direct.
Promoting an event? Make sure the event is listed on involved.risd.edu and that your email links to Involved.
Follow RISD’s editorial style guide for consistency, e.g.:
To denote time, use lowercase abbreviations for am and pm and no periods; include a space before am or pm; don’t repeat the am or pm for spans of time
✔ 8 am, 10:30 am, 1–3 pm
𝗫 1pm, 1PM, 1:00 pm, 8 am–10 am
Don’t capitalize the ‘c’ in ‘college’ or the ‘m’ in ‘museum’ unless you are using the official name
✔ an exhibition in the RISD Museum
✔ an exhibition at the museum
𝗫 an exhibition in the Museum
Capitalize the name of the department itself, not the descriptor, and lead with the department name to be clear and concise
✔ the Painting department
𝗫 the Painting Department or the Department of Painting
Only capitalize an individual’s job title when it precedes their name
✔ ****President Crystal Williams spoke at the event
✔ Crystal Williams, president of RISD, spoke at the event
𝗫 Crystal Williams, President of RISD, spoke at the event
Refer to RISD’s inclusive language guide for guidance on communicating about identity and diversity in inclusive ways.
If you’re using an image (which works best in newsletter tools like MailChimp rather than gmail emails), refer to the guidance on the identity site (scroll down to “Imagery”) and find a selection of options in the campus photography gallery. Include alternative text to describe your image for accessibility.