03 Voice
Our Voice
Artist at the gallery opening
This is the voice of a friendly artist at the opening of their solo exhibition, introducing themselves and their practice to a room of discriminating peers, gallerists, and buyers. We speak directly and descriptively about the experiences we build, taking moments to step back and describe technique and process more formally. Throughout, we retain a spirit of unconventionality, a quiet quirkiness that prefers neologism to cliche.
In conversation with: A group of creatives and technologists, dressed up for the occasion.
Key attributes
Direct
Descriptive
Discerning
Thoughtful
Think of these attributes as targets for our brand voice. We aim to speak directly, find moments for description, convey a discerning level of taste, and(thoughtfully) embrace the unconventional.
If we follow these attributes, our voice should begin to feel a bit warmer and more expressive while still exhibiting the refinement expected of a top-drawer, international digital consultancy.
Direct
We are a consultancy in conversation with the outside world. As such we speak directly, addressing our readers, acknowledging their presence and the reason(s) they might find themselves on this or that specific part of our website.
Do:
Use first-person plural “we,” second- person “you,” and imperative verbs that imply conversation (e.g. “Shape what's next”).
Don't:
Use the third-person in reference to ourselves (e.g. “Reaktor is a tech consultancy that seeks to transform...”).
Descriptive
Despite the temperatures outside our Helsinki home office, we are not a chilly, unapproachable consultancy that thinks solely in terms of 1's and 0's. We aim to cultivate a warm and friendly environment. So when appropriate, try to paint a picture—whether it's about the bounce of a new pair of shoes or the reverberation of 54,000 chanting fans at Anfield.
Do:
Try to express the experiences that our products enable beyond the code (e.g., Our software will fast-forward hundreds of thousands of shoe-buyers from search to stroll).
Don't:
Lean too heavily on adverbs (e.g. efficiently). Let expressive nouns and active verbs do the talking (e.g. The only interruption to your in-flight streaming will be the cry of a two-year-old in 22F).
Discerning
Clients look to us for technological expertise and aesthetic taste, so it's important we convey a certain degree of refinement. Not a dull, grey-suited formality so much as a sharply-dressed creative polish. This can come to life through an informed POV on something technical (e.g. Is Javascript eating the world?) as well as precise word choice.
Do:
Feel free to describe technical challenges in case studies. No need to dumb everything down all the time.
Don't:
Revert to business or design cliches to sound professional. Also beware of vague adjectives such as “interesting” or “high-performance.” Try to describe why something is interesting and how it performs well.
Unconventional
We're an eclectic bunch—a collaborative crew of creative-minded inventors: engineers, technologists, designers, writers, and strategists whose job is to balance structured with divergent thinking, process with imagination. To convey the creative side of our work, it's important that a creative spark occasionally come across in our voice.
Do:
Play with the sound and rhythm of our language, without going overboard. Occasional alliteration, assonance, and slant rhyme is welcome. Try to avoid cliche slogans whenever possible.
Don't:
Overdo figurative language to the point of distracting our readers or burying information (facts, results, technologies). Be descriptive and unconventional within the general flow of communication.
