Hi there! ???? Welcome to Peepl’s guidelines on branding and tone of voice.
This page exists to help Peepl team members and partners bring our brand and culture to life in internal and external communications. And because Peepl is an ‘open by default’ organisation, we’ve made this guide public, so anyone can see it, use it, and learn from it.
This guide will help you produce content that has the right “Peepl” feel to it, quickly and consistently, so you can spend less time worrying about doing the right thing, and more time adding value to the Peepl network ????
This isn’t a set of rules. You’re free to excercise take your own initiative when you’re tailoring communication for different audiences. Just make sure, if you do decide to ignore any of these guidelines, that you’re doing it for a good reason.
Quick principles
We use simple, human language
We make tools for real businesses and real people, our writing style should reflect that. Write as you would to a friend or family member. Keep it short, clear, and easy to read. Avoid stuffy, formal language – it’s not as smart as you think, and just distances you from your reader.
We’re open and transparent
We have nothing to hide. We demystify our technology and our processes, and translate them for a regular audience. Avoid techno mumbo-jumbo, or ‘crypto’ industry tropes. Focus on real outcomes for real people, and the social change that Peepl has a mission to bring about.
We’re respectful and professional
At the end of the day, we’re a financial platform. People use our tools to store and transact both data and financial value every day. We need to make sure our communication reflects the trust and professionalism that our customers and partners require from us.
Logo and brand colours
You can download a pack of our logos and avatars here.
Our primary brand colours are:
Peepl red
#FC0C1A
Peepl cream
#F5F2EB
Peepl dark grey
#28303D
When you need to add more variety, you can use these secondary colours:
Peepl orange
#FC870C
Peepl yellow
#FCCA0C
Peepl green
#7EBD46
Peepl teal
#46BDB1
Peepl blue
#2B70DF
Peepl taupe
#A09F9E
Make sure your designs are accessible to readers with visual impairments. Your designs should conform to the visual contrast requirements of WCAG 2.1 Level AA where possible.
Typefaces
Where possible, we use Montserrat for headings, and Lato for body text. Both are open source fonts, available on Google Docs / Google Slides.
Writing style
Swap formal words for normal ones
Use the kind of language you’d use if you were talking with the person you’re writing to, and avoid business-speak and legal-speak unless it’s really required.
Use words your audience will already be familiar with – like “payments” and “rewards”, instead of “transactions” and “tokens”.
It’s fine to use contractions
People use contractions like “it’s” and “we’re” in spoken language all the time. They make sentences flow better. Feel free to use them!
Use the active, rather than passive, voice
Be clear about who’s doing what, and don’t be afraid to refer to Peepl as “we” or “us” – for example, “We’ve refunded your account” rather than “Your account has been refunded” or “Peepl has refunded your account”.
(A top tip from Monzo – you can spot the passive voice by adding “…by monkeys” to the end of whatever you’re writing. If the sentence still makes sense, you’re writing in the passive voice and should consider rephrasing to the active voice.)
Prefer lower-case letters
Capital letters belong at the start of sentences, or in proper nouns (like company names, place names, or people’s names). Everywhere else, just use lower case letters – it’s more friendly, and easier to read.
This is true for headings too. Try Not To Capitalise Every Word. Use sentence case instead.
Get someone to read your work
Even the best writers make mistakes, and it can be really hard to spot them when you’re just reading your own stuff back to yourself. Ask someone else to check what you’ve written, and let people know you’re happy to check their stuff too. We’re better together!