Style guide.

Last updated August 2022.

There's nothing quite like Violet. We're offering the first cultural competence credentialing, upskilling, and care coordination platform for clinicians. We envision a world where every human receives equitable health care, inclusive of their identity. Our style reflects our unique offering and the inclusive, warm, and quality care we're helping to build, one clinician at a time.

Visual Guidelines

The basics

Logo in action

Our mission.

We’re on a mission to build health equity. We envision a world where every human receives equitable health care, inclusive of their race, sexual orientation, gender, ability, language, citizenship, or more.

Our bio.

Violet is the first cultural competence credentialing, upskilling, and care coordination platform for clinicians.Research shows that inclusive care is proven to generate better health outcomes and Violet’s platform is the first step to building health equity for all.

Our team.

For us, it’s personal. As a team of queer, BIPOC, and Disabled folks, all of us have identities that are important to our health care journeys. Prior to creating Violet, our founding team spent years building digital health companies like Oscar, Iora, and Tempest.

Our video.

Watch here.

Our social.

Instagram
LinkedIn
Twitter

#Violet4HealthEquity

Media contact.

Carson Quinn
ZindseyMEDIA for Violet
carson@zindsey.com
312.339.9779

Color

Violet colors

We love color. It's important for our brand that we signal our inclusivity-driven product through a spectrum of colors. We include the rainbow as a nod to our LGBTQ roots and a future grounded in working with clinicians to build health equity for all patients, regardless of identity.

Violet colors

Main palette

Our main colors are in the foreground of most designs.

Forest green

HEX
134A45
RGB
19, 74, 69
CMYK
22, 0, 2, 71
PMS
343 C
134A45

Off white

HEX
F7F7F7
RGB
247, 247, 247
CMYK
0, 0, 0, 3
PMS
656 C
F7F7F7

Bright violet

HEX
B961CD
RGB
185, 97, 205
CMYK
8, 42, 0, 20
PMS
252 C
b961cd

Baby blue

HEX
96C9E9
RGB
150, 201, 233
CMYK
33, 13, 0, 9
PMS
283 C
96C9E9

Gray brown

HEX
746F6B
RGB
116, 111, 107
CMYK
0, 2, 4, 55
PMS
405 C
746F6B

Light gray

HEX
CCD2D8
RGB
204, 210, 216
CMYK
5, 2, 0, 15
PMS
5455 C
CCD2D8

Ancillary palette.

Did we mention that we love color? We have a collection of secondary colors to plug 'n play with our main palette.

Dark gray

HEX
134A45
RGB
19, 74, 69
CMYK
22, 0, 2, 71
PMS
343 C
40494f

Foam

HEX
134A45
RGB
19, 74, 69
CMYK
22, 0, 2, 71
PMS
343 C
508883

Canary

HEX
134A45
RGB
19, 74, 69
CMYK
22, 0, 2, 71
PMS
343 C
c9c19b

Coral

HEX
134A45
RGB
19, 74, 69
CMYK
22, 0, 2, 71
PMS
343 C
c69693

Pale brown

HEX
134A45
RGB
19, 74, 69
CMYK
22, 0, 2, 71
PMS
343 C
bdb5af

Accessibility ratios

Accessibility is central to our design ethos since we're driven by inclusivity. It's important we match our colors based on accessibility ratios.

Color proportion

To impart brand equity, we always produce designs that highlight our main colors while balancing ancillary accents that don't overpower.

Typography

Typography

We've chosen font that is legible and accessible, first and foremost. It's important that our designs are clear to read for most individuals. That's a part of being inclusive. Additionally, as an education provider, we've chosen typography that is collegiate and reflects our main customer: clinicians and health care orgs.

Typography

Main typeface

Our primary typeface is Recoleta. Its primary use is for large typographic expressions and messaging statements. It can be downloaded here.

Recoleta Alt Light
ABCDEFGHIJKLMN
OPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmn
opqrstuvwxyz
1234567890&?!

Supporting typefaces

Our supporting typefaces are Mabry Pro Light and Pro Regular. Its use is for subtitles and body text. It can be downloaded here and here.

Mabry Pro Light
ABCDEFGHIJKLMN
OPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmn
opqrstuvwxyz
1234567890&?!
Mabry Pro Regular
ABCDEFGHIJKLMN
OPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmn
opqrstuvwxyz
1234567890&?!

Google fonts

When Recoleta and Mabry aren't supported, you may use DM Sans Regular by Google. Download it here.

DM Sans Regular ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopq
rstuvwxyz
1234567890&?!
DM Sans Regular ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopq
rstuvwxyz
1234567890&?!

Style matrix

We rank our typography based on headers and body text. See the order of things below.

H1

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Deliver more inclusive care.

H2

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Violet powers inclusive care at scale.

H3

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

That’s why Violet has standardized cultural competence, and credentials clinicians to unlock inclusivity.

Body

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque et dapibus urna. Nulla lacinia, enim ut tristique commodo, ligula erat ornare libero, scelerisque fermentum turpis enim ac quam. Vestibulum mollis massa dui, sed cursus nunc cursus non. Integer risus elit, elementum nec dolor id, facilisis pretium odio. Mauris laoreet arcu leo, sit amet sagittis felis condimentum vel. Ut a sagittis orci.

Graphic elements

Violet uses illustrations to show who we are. Illustrations are an impactful way to visualize both our products and our educational concepts.

From our website to our e-learning platform, you'll see how Violet operates with easily understood visualizations.

Graphic elements

Illustration motif

We use a sunrise motif to symbolize a new horizon for health care based on inclusive care delivery.

Illustration motif.

Product illustrations

We like to show our products as often as possible to build brand recognition about who we are and what we do: credential and upskill cultural competence in clinicians.

Benchmarking
Upskilling.
Benchmarking
Mobile App
Our Seal.
Out Seal.
Violet Seal

Conceptual illustrations

When we talk about health care or teach new concepts, we reach for illustrations to drive home ideas and branding.

General health

Building patient trust.

Building patient trust.

Equity in healthcare

Equity in healthcare

Prescription

Prescription

Identity-centered care journeys

Growth

Growth

Better provider data

Better provider data

Personalized care

Personalized care

Physical and mental health

Substance abuse

Substance abuse

Implicit bias

Implicit bias

Medical kit

Medical kit

Concepts

Health equity / trauma

Health equity / trauma

Power structures

Power structures

White privilege

White privilege

Race

Race

Ethnicity

Ethnicity

Culture

Culture

Benchmarking factors

Education

Education

Cultural humility

Cultural humility

Work experience

Work experience

Iconography

We use sub-branded icons to demarcate our products, concepts, and website for an easier user journey.

Abstract / general

Icon
Icon
Icon
Icon
Icon
Icon
Icon
Icon
Icon
Icon
Icon
Icon

Concept specific

Growth

Growth

Mental health

Mental health

Data

Data

Privilege

Privilege

Patient trust

Patient trust

Education

Education

Customer personas

CEO of a health care organization

CEO of a health care organization

DEI strategy leader

DEI strategy leader

Clinical operations manager

Clinical operations manager

Business development manager

Business development manager

Provider engagement director

Provider engagement director

Health equity leader

Health equity leader

Website menu

Credentialing

Credentialing

Upskilling

Upskilling

Our team

Our team

Our mission

Our mission

Careers

Careers

Textures.

Sometimes, a solid color needs something attention-grabbing. Textures come into play when designs need a dynamic element.

Waves of inclusivity

Waves of inclusivity

Structures

Structures

Dots matrix

Dots matrix

Zig Zag

Zig Zag

Grid

Grid

Arrows up

Arrows up

Squiggles

When a texture doesn't work and impacts legibility, we use various accents, sparingly.

Competency benchmarks.

One of our products is competency benchmarks. These are earned rewards for benchmarking on Violet's e-learning platform.

Awareness

Awareness

Proficiency

Proficiency

Excellence

Excellence

Verified by Violet.

When clinicians complete sufficient training through Violet, they can earn verification to be posted online. Contact our team to see if your health care org and/or clinicians qualify to display Violet's verification.

Violet Verified Seal

Dark on light.

Violet Verified Seal

Light on violet.

Photography.

While steering clear of tokenization or stereotyping, Violet carefully curates black and white photography to personify our brand and messaging.

We use photos that are documentarian and human while depicting patient-clincian relationships. We often use photos that showcase the everyday lifestyles of patients and clinicians too.

Graphic elements

Portraits

We love showing people, but we strive to show them in dignified, respectful, and honest ways. We try to never select photos that tokenize or stereotype. Also, we don't place text across the faces of people. We try to give enough space around the portrait.

Woman Portrait
BIPOC Patient
Man Portrait
Woman Portrait

Depicting patients

At our core, Violet's main mission is to improve patient satisfaction, retention, and health outcomes through improved clinician cultural competence. For this reason, we often spotlight patient-clincian interactions while aiming to select photos that are respectful and real.

Patient
Patient and Wife
Holding Hands
Patient
Patient

The technical stuff

Black and white

Black and white

Our style only uses black and white photography. It performs best for SEO and display ads, and balances well with our color palette.

Tone

Tone

We try to choose photos that are authentic and hopeful in tone. We don't use photos that look staged or come across as overly grim or dramatic.

Composition

Composition

We also select photos for composition. Images that include off-centered main subjects, close-ups, and 3/4 framing are all interesting perspectives that lend itself to good design. We also try to select many photos with negative space in case we need to dedicate it to a text overlay.

Photo editing

Photo editing

We edit photos to be black and white. Many of our photos also include more brightening and grain. This can be done on Photoshop if the photo doesn't include our style. A dark gray gradient may also be applied to the negative space of a photo if a text overlay could benefit from increased legibility.

Layout

Between iconography, typography, graphic elements, and photography, we layout our designs to be easily skimmable and understandable. The key is to balance different headers, subheaders, colors, and other design elements in a breathable format.

Nearly all of our layouts are based on the following order: a logo at the top followed by a header, sub-header, and body text with either a graphic element or photo adjacent.

Graphic elements

Grid

When you’re creating a design, a good place to start is a twelve column grid.

Grid

Framing

It’s helpful to know framing before you select or direct photography.

Square

Square

Circle

Circle

Blob

Blob

Triangle

Triangle

Arch

Arch

Quarter circle

Quarter circle

Isoceles triangle

Isoceles triangle

Isoceles triangle

Isoceles triangle

Arrangement

Craft layouts that are simple, but unexpected. To add warmth and personality to your designs, make imaginative use of the grid.

Horizontal Layout
Vertical Layout
Vertical Layout

Writing

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec elementum sed arcu scelerisque molestie. Suspendisse accumsan felis nec odio lacinia eleifend. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Maecenas scelerisque porta libero, quis mollis odio.

Proin eros turpis, maximus eget eleifend gravida, efficitur eget sem. Suspendisse condimentum posuere finibus. Vestibulum sed leo sed lacus rhoncus volutpat. Maecenas enim felis, dapibus ac molestie sit amet, viverra at ex. Proin eget dui a lorem scelerisque hendrerit ornare vel dolor. Ut eget lectus semper, rhoncus erat quis, facilisis nulla.

Writing

Violet's voice

Educational | Encouraging | Direct

Educational

Academic and confident to boost credibility among our highly educated audience. However, try not to be pedantic or preachy, nor try too hard to sound cool and relatable by using slang. There’s a fine balance between authentic and academic language so we can remain grounded.

When we use jargon pervasive in medicine, we’ll lean into talking like humans so that our education is engaging and easier to get through for our busy audience.

Too preachy:

No
Providers must learn to become culturally congruent or else patients suffer.

Just right:

Yes
When providers deliver culturally congruent care, everyone wins.

Tips for authentic writing

  • Talk with, not to, or about
  • Embrace: we, our, you
  • Make it personal, don’t generalize
  • Use: names, faces, and specifics when possible
  • Use smaller words
  • Keep it conversational
  • Avoid slang

Encouraging

We follow the research and know health disparities are driven by a lack of cultural congruency (and, at worst, discrimination). Although we’re here to tell it like it is, we also show how it could be and provide a solution. Our words should stir hope, possibility, and innovation, even when we're being frank.

Keeping our words positive, actionable, and active will go a long way in communicating this tone.

Too passive:

No
Learning about diverse communities can go a long way.

Too negative:

No
Discriminating against certain identities in care settings is inhumane and hurts patient satisfaction.

Just right:

Yes
Violet has a seamless solution for providers searching for comprehensive culturally congruent upskilling and wanting to build a closer connection with patients.

Tips for authentic writing

  • Incorporate motivational words like: accomplish, action, ambition, believe, capable, challenge, commitment, courage, dare, determination, drive, envision, excellence, focus, goals, hope, imagination, joy, mission, opportunity, passion, possibilities, potential, succeed/success, value.
  • Use active voice and lead with active verbs as often as possible.
  • Put a positive spin on any perceived negative when appropriate and authentic.
  • Focus on the desired state.

Direct

Violet is confident enough in our authority to not mince words. We’re always clear and direct, and we’re not afraid to speak our minds.

There’s a fine line between bold and brazen, however. We never want to come off harsh or demeaning, or like an attack. To stay encouraging, focus on the positive of what we want others to do/think.

Too timid/safe:

No
Let’s come together and potentially leave medical racism in the past.

Too harsh:

No
Racists don’t belong in medicine.

Just right:

Yes
Antiracism is a lifelong commitment to learning. Join Violet to begin your journey toward equitable care today.

Tips for writing boldly

  • Be direct and confident.
  • Avoid hedge words like “maybe,” “possibly,” “potentially,” “can,” etc.
  • Use strong words (ie. excellent and challenging) instead of relying on weak modifiers (ie. very good and hard).
  • Be honest.
  • Be concise.
  • Omit needless words. Don’t say in ten words what you can say in two.
  • Avoid long and/or complex words and sentences.
  • Avoid multiple words with the same meaning.
  • Avoid unnecessary modifiers.
  • Avoid clunky common expressions.

Tone by situation.

When Violet educates.

When Violet educates.

We may take an academic and encouraging tone. More objective, expository, definitive statements, and fewer abstractions. We want to come off as a master teacher who is conscientious, helpful, discerning, and knowledgable. When more complex subjects/terms arise, it is explained with concision and illustration.

When Violet talks to the media.

When Violet talks to the media.

We may take a more authoritative tone. More confident, definitive statements, fewer questions, and fewer apologies (though we are fearless to apologize when wrong). We want to come off as an expert or leaders in our field. No unnecessarily big words here, but calm, clear, and concise.

When Violet posts on social.

When Violet posts on social.

We can unbutton a few buttons. Here we can be a bit more playful, use (some) exclamation points and emojis, and be a bit more empathetic and compassionate. However, confidence and education should be balanced to ensure brand authority.

When Violet handles customer issues.

When Violet handles customer issues.

We dial up empathy and compassion. We want to know how we can help them succeed. We talk much less about ourselves and our products and more about their unique challenges. Avoid being overly apologetic, and stay cool, calm, and confident the whole time. Focus on the fix, not on the fail.

Tone by audience.

Persona

Leader of Provider Org/Payor

CEO, Clinical Operations Manager, DEI Strategy Leader, etc. at hospitals/physician groups, insurers, major patient directories, etc.

Beginner

Our voice will remain smart and sophisticated, but our tone here should be a bit more encouraging and helpful. Avoid using industry jargon or niche terms.

You’re a teacher here. Be patient, calm, clear, and friendly.

Intermediate

Here we can take a more authoritative tone. A bit more buttoned up. But still helpful and friendly.

You’re a mentor here. Be encouraging and empowering.

Expert

Dial-up confidence, authority, and sophistication. Don’t be afraid to use niche terms and phrases.

You’re a peer here. Assert your opinion, engage confidently, and build your audience up.

Persona

Provider

Physicians, mental health specialists, birth workers, etc. at hospitals/physician groups, major patient directories, etc.

Beginner

Our voice will remain smart and sophisticated, but our tone here should be a bit more encouraging and helpful. Avoid using industry jargon or niche terms.

You’re a teacher here. Be patient, calm, clear, and friendly.

Intermediate

Here we can take a more authoritative tone. A bit more buttoned up. But still helpful and friendly.

You’re a mentor here. Be encouraging and empowering.

Expert

Here we can take a more authoritative tone. A bit more buttoned up. But still approachable and friendly.

You’re a mentor here. Be encouraging and empowering.

Persona

Patient

Every-day people seeking care, particularly focusing on underserved communities.

Beginner

You’re talking to an entry-level novice here, so it’s important to remain very clear and concise, as well as avoid industry-specific or niche terms. It’s also okay to be more casual here.

You’re a teacher here. Be patient, calm, clear, and friendly.

Intermediate

Here we can take a more authoritative tone. A bit more buttoned up. But still helpful and friendly.

You’re a mentor here. Be encouraging and empowering.

Expert

Here we can take a more authoritative, sophisticated tone. Don’t be afraid to use niche terms and phrases.

You’re a mentor here. Be encouraging and empowering.

Violet's tone by content type.

Content type

Email

User type

Prospect, customer.

All

Goal

To communicate.

Tone

Balance warmth and friendliness with authority and expertise. If there are major current events, tone should be serious.

Persona

Sales presentation

User type

Prospect, customer, industry

Intermediate, Expert

Goal

To persuade.

Tone

Be straightforward and precise. Avoid niche terms and stay empathetic.

Content type

Guide

User type

Customer

Beginner, intermediate

Goal

To educate.

Tone

Button up a bit, but stay personable. Dial up “smart” and “sophisticated.”

Content type

E-learning

User type

Customer

Beginner, intermediate

Goal

To educate.

Tone

Button up a bit, but stay personable. Dial up “smart” and “sophisticated.”

Content type

Case vignette

User type

Customer

Beginner, intermediate

Goal

To educate.

Tone

Button up a bit, but stay personable. Dial up “smart” and “sophisticated.”

Content type

Blog post

User type

Prospect, customer, industry

Beginner, intermediate

Goal

To educate and empower.

Tone

Keep it simple, clear, and concise while diving into novel ideas and helpful tips that educate/empower.

Content type

Social media copy

User type

Prospect, customer

All

Goal

To inspire and entice.

Tone

Keep it clear and concise, but avoid oversimplifying. Balance warmth and friendliness with authority and expertise. If there are major current events, tone should be serious.

Content type

Web copy

User type

Prospect, customer, industry

All

Goal

To differentiate. Customer storytelling, success stories for sales use.

Tone

Keep it simple, clear, and concise. Button up a bit, but stay personable. Brand first, product second. Solutions over features.

Content type

Press release

User type

Prospect, customer

All

Goal

To inform and excite.

Tone

Keep it clear and concise, but avoid oversimplifying. Button up a bit, but maintain enthusiasm. Communicate authority and expertise.

Content type

Product announcements

User type

Prospect, customer

All

Goal

To inform and educate.

Tone

Keep it clear and concise, but avoid oversimplifying. Button up a bit, but maintain enthusiasm. Communicate authority and expertise.

Style and grammar.

  • Headline capitalization: Always sentence-cased, with periods.
  • CTAs: Always sentence-cased, no periods.
  • Citation: Violet uses MLA when citing sources:
  1. Author (Last Name, First Name [only cite the first author and then et. al.]). “Title of the Source.”
  2. Title of the Container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.
  3. Alphabetize the entries by the author’s last name.
  4. Use left alignment and double line spacing (no extra space between entries).
  5. Use a hanging indent on entries that run over onto additional lines.
  • Punctuation: Violet uses the Oxford comma and em dashes—ensuring there are no spaces!—to sometimes replace commas, parentheses, colons, and semicolons. We don’t use exclamation points unless it’s a social media post or a clever addition to a blog; these should be used sparingly in all instances.
  • Numbers: Violet spells out numbers under ten and uses numerals for over ten, except for design and research papers (Keep in mind that you might have to adapt this guideline for extraordinarily large numbers. For example, AP style suggests a combination of both numbers and words when writing a number like 7 million). Violet does not use superscripts for dates. The percent symbol can be used in design and research papers but not in content writing. Decimals should be rounded up for design and content writing but expanded for research.
  • Compound words: Recommendations for compounds change quickly, especially as words become common. We typically do not use compound words. For example, we write health care instead of healthcare.
  • Abbreviations and acronyms: We do not use punctuation for acronyms (AM/PM, ET/EST, US/USA), etc). We abbreviate states in postal code style (FL, NY, etc), but recommend spelling it out the first time the state is mentioned in writing.
  • Formatting: Violet italicizes book titles. Violet does not use 2 spaces after a period. To draw visual attention to items in a list without implying that items go in a certain order (eg, chronology, importance, priority), use a bulleted list. Use a numbered list if you want to display items in a numbered series. Use a lettered list if you want to emphasize separate parallel items within a sentence. Block quotes are used for direct quotations that are longer than 40 words. They should be offset from the main text and do not include quotation marks. Introduce the block quote on a new line. Indent the entire quote ½ inch or 5-7 spaces; the block quote may be single-spaced.
  • Words about technology: Common usage changes quickly, and content can look outdated if it doesn’t keep up—for example, a hyphen in e-mail or capitalizing Internet is outdated. Violet writes email and internet. Though the one instance where we use a hyphen for technology terms is e-learning. We do not add http:// or www. in our URLs (ie joinviolet.com).
  • Brand names: We follow third-party style recommendations of name brands, like eBay, iPhone, IKEA, and more.