Starface making punctuation part of their voice

This is an unusual entry into the swipe file because while the copy isn't bad, we're far more interested in how they use punctuation and capital letters (or lack thereof) to create this super casual, very Gen Z voice.

As decidedly not Gen Z-ers, it's a super cool lesson in how language evolves and shifts for every new generation.

(And a humbling reminder that our use of ironic hashtags and ftw and lol are now the equivalent of when our parents said "Oh, I preferred Starburst when they were called Opal Fruits.)

Did you know that punctuation and little stylistic quirks can have as much impact on your tone and message as the words you choose?

Fun fact: these little details, like how you punctuate or capitalise or how you spell words, are called orthography.

And Starface are the OGs of this.

Their punctuation and spelling and capitalisation have become little tone markers for their audience to infer the intent of what you’re saying.

Think of “Hey.” vs “Hey!” vs “Hey 👋” vs “heeeeeeeeey!”

They're all the same one-word greeting, but completely different tones and impressions, right?

So when you're thinking about your tone of voice, think about your punctuation too. Think about emojis. Think about whether you're happy to break the rules of grammar. Think about whether you'd be comfortable doing a Starface and ditching capital letters altogether.

But most of all, make sure it all works together. If you're a brand targeting Gen Z and using the Starface lowercase style but saying "Our products enable efficient reduction in redness and appearance" then it's going to feel off. A good brand voice is a consistent brand voice.

(Oh, and if you like really nerdy linguistics and stuff, you might like this deep dive into Starface's use of orthography we wrote last year.)