In blogging, copywriting and just about any other medium of writing besides research papers, the most magnetic prose are not always the most correct. Captivating, readable writing depends on a conversational tone, a penchant for irony and a relaxed attitude – not necessarily avoiding sentences that end in prepositions. In school, we learned so many rules to follow, and we shouldn’t ignore them. But to be better writers, we have to know how to appropriately break them. So get ready for detention because we’re going to share our secrets for bold writing… The Elements of [Rebellious] Style.  

Punctuation. When you have something to say, punctuation can be one of the best ways to show inflection. We’ve often been told to avoid overusing exclamation marks, and in most cases that’s true. However, using them IRONICALLY can be funny. Think of it as being excessively dramatic for comic effect or using a funny voice when you’re speaking out loud. Punctuation can also help you pause (using an ellipses…) so your readers will hear the words as though they were intended. When you write, establish a voice and let the punctuation follow suit. EXCEPTION: Under no circumstances should you EVER end a sentence with more than one exclamation, especially if it is on a billboard or another printed piece. Blogs are a little more relaxed, but again this should only be practiced ironically.

Spelling. You should never misspell a word in a stupid way. Ever. It only makes YOU look stupid. But, sometimes manipulating words can give them more emphasis. For instance, if you were trying to convey a different accent, a drawn-out WHHAAAT? or an unusual pronunciation. TIP: Capitalizing the entire word can help with this practice too. Just please, use spellcheck on everything else. Please.

Paragraphs. You remember the rule – a paragraph should have 3-5 sentences… a main idea sentence followed by supporting sentences. That’s great for standardized tests in fourth grade, but it’s not the way you should be writing.

Again, this allows you to emphasize points and it keeps your readers engaged. Visually writing says to your audience, “This guy planned what he was going to say in a clever way.” And it makes your copy look less daunting. So don’t be afraid to have a lone sentence or even a lone word out there. If it’s intentional, then it’s driving home a message.

And that brings us to our last rule you should be breaking.

Write in complete sentences. You don’t speak in them, so why have to write in them? You don’t. Short one or two-word sentences can be very powerful when used correctly. Just because you’re lacking a complete subject or predicate doesn’t mean you can’t contribute to a thought or idea in a way that gets attention.

So go ahead. Break rules but be smart about it. Your writing will improve and your readership with flourish. And, if you’re interested in books that expound upon how to be a sassy writer, we recommend Spunk & Bite by Arthur Plotnik and Here’s the Kicker by Mike Saks. They’re funny too!

Regular

We know how difficult it can be to nail down an identity. Creating our logo design over the past few months has been exhausting! There were so many things we wanted to say with one little image: we like to create awareness through a handmade, grassroots approach, we’re edgy but not angry, we’re trendy, but here to stay… the list could go on and on. So many designs came through our door, but nothing said it all.

What we realized is that, like most other facets of marketing, to get what we want, we’re going to have to break a few rules. Even we would have never guessed pink.

Rule #1 – Logos should be something that last forever. True… sort of. Yes, you want to create something that has longevity, but that doesn’t mean it has to always stay the same. Take a hint from Google and AOL – they change their look up all the time to fit their mood, current project or for a little extra flair. So for our logo, we have several different fluorescent color options all available with or without the black box. The ability to change things up speaks to our dynamic, unpredictable nature.

Rule #2 – Logos should appeal to your audience. Wrong. Logos should appeal to the audience you want. Sure, we could have created something that looked like a financial institution or healthcare company, but that’s not what we are, and few companies of that persuasion are likely to be open to our progressive practices (even though they should be). Our philosophy is important to us, and we’re not trying to hide it. That’s why we chose fluorescent, punk-inspired colors, lots of black and an artistic design. We’re bold, we’re rebellious and we’re creative. Mission: accomplished.

Rule #3 – There are logos with icons and logos without icons – you can’t have both.Well we just did. Because we love our name and everything it stands for, we were pretty adamant about having a sheep icon. But, combining the sheep with the typeface was overwhelming and cumbersome, so we decided to create an icon and a typeface. Sometimes we use one, sometimes we use both (strategically). Whatevah, we do what we want.

So there you have it. Take risks and make sure your brand identity is just that – your business’ personality, not what other people want it to be. Want to see what we're up to a decade later? Time travel and check us out in 2019.

Black Sheep Identity Revealed [circa 2010, yo]