Recently, the White House’s U.S. Digital Service and the government’s in-house tech consultants, 18F, announced new official style guidelines. With the announcement of the U.S. Web Design Standards, the tech arm of the the White House will help bring the online presence of all government agencies into compliance with the rest of the web.
While this is a new announcement from the U.S. government, style guidelines are nothing new in the world of web design. When creating a brand it is essential to maintain the same look and feel throughout all of your products. From the rainbow of colors in Google’s logo to the sleek minimalism of Apple, the goal is to be recognizable. These guidelines set the standards of typefaces, color schemes and button styles to keep a brand consistent across platforms. Style guidelines are not only for the web–they can also help with presentations or advertisements. Having a style guideline allows all federal agencies to quickly create new content and sites for their target audience, the American people.
These standards are well-researched and meant to convey specific ideas. For example, the different shades of blue were codified to present trust and confidence. According to these new standards, “Blue is commonly associated with trust, confidence, and sincerity; it is also used to represent calmness and responsibility.”