California Institute of the Arts brand guidelines

Freedam's take

When I looked through the CalArts brand site, I was drawn straight into their detailed editorial style guide. Rather than opening with visual assets or design rules, this page lays out an alphabetical reference manual. I appreciate how it handles institutional vocabulary alongside everyday grammar, clarifying local acronyms like REDCAT and CNP right alongside rules for the Oxford comma and academic degrees. Cyan headings break up the alphabetical entries, and a floating button lets you jump back up the page quickly. It feels like a practical reference desk for writers.

At a glance

Sections

EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDE

Tone

A clean, functional alphabetical reference guide focused on institutional terminology and precise writing standards.

What I noticed

1. The editorial style guide arranges entries alphabetically under cyan headings such as Abbreviations, Academic Degrees, Acronyms, Dates, Pronouns, and Punctuation.^12345678
2. An acronym reference list covers institutional shorthand including BFA, CAIT, CAP, CCAT, CNP, MOD, and REDCAT.⁹
3. Punctuation instructions specifically address the Oxford comma, apostrophes, em-dashes, hyphens, periods, and quotation marks.¹⁰
4. A floating back to top button in cyan is anchored to the right side of the screen.¹¹
5. A search form is available on the site.¹²

Numbers refer to the screenshots above.

Ideas to borrow

1. Collate campus and organizational acronyms into an alphabetized reference glossary so cross-departmental teams maintain consistent terminology.