Voice and Tone
Our messaging and voice work together to create a tone that’s authentic to UB. To help content creators maintain a consistent tone of voice, here are some parameters to keep in mind and examples of how each comes to life.
On this page:
Tone of voice
| Our Tone is | Original | Revoiced |
| Clever but not pretentious. | Researchers surprise mouth fungus with sugary ‘Trojan horse.’ | Here is how we trick fungus into taking its medicine. |
Humble but not | Student-led robotics startup wins top prize for self-navigating boat. | Making award-winning ideas look effortless. |
| Inspiring but not preachy. | UB medical students bring ‘Tar Wars’ tobacco-free message to hundreds of fourth and fifth graders. | Helping kids kick smoking before they start. |
Enthusiastic but not ecstatic. | Bling, bling! UB chemist hosts national crystal-growing contest. | Catalyzing young chemists with crystals. |
| Serious but not stuffy. | Men tend to be more narcissistic than women. | Exposing the narcissism gap with data. |
| Precise but not fussy. | Twitter data can make roads safer during inclement weather. | Using Twitter to make driving safer. |
| Sincere but not solemn. | Massive study provides detailed look at how Greenland’s ice is vanishing. | Here is how we heed the warming signs. |
| Thoughtful but not sentimental. | Giving their ancestors a voice: UB workshop to provide descendants of slaves with tools to research family history. | Giving the descendants of slaves the tools to liberate their family history. |
| Down-to-earth but not folksy. | Turning off Niagara Falls could yield insight on how waterfalls carve canyons, UB expert says. | Taking a peek beneath the Falls for science. |
| Proud but not boastful. | June in Buffalo: Marking 40 years, and still at the forefront of new music. | Sharpening the vanguard of music every June in Buffalo. |
Using tone to convey mood
Our visual language can also convey tone, which we can map along two intersecting continuums: casual to formal and muted to vibrant. These ranges define four quadrants, onto which we can map the pieces we create, based on the mood evoked by the use of our color palette and visual elements.
