Bold

We use bold – sparingly – to highlight the most important part of a message:

<aside> ✅ The deadline for submissions is noon on 14 July.

</aside>

Don't overdo it, as it can distract the reader and make content less readable. And don't make punctuation bold, unless the whole sentence is.

In print content, make all web addresses, email addresses, hashtags and other social media identifiers bold, to clearly show the reader where to go or what action to take:

<aside> ✅ #WeAreUoN

</aside>

<aside> ✅ [email protected]

</aside>

<aside> ✅ nottingham.ac.uk

</aside>

Italics

We use italics to emphasise words within a sentence where they make the meaning clearer and help to make the point. Keeping this kind of emphasis to a minimum stops it losing its impact.

<aside> ✅ Studying at the University of Nottingham was one of the best experiences of my life.

</aside>

We also italicise certain titles.

The titles of books, journals, plays, films and musical works:

<aside> ✅ My favourite Thomas Hardy book is Far from the Madding Crowd.

</aside>

<aside> ✅ Can Die Hard really be classed as a Christmas film?

</aside>

If the title includes “The” or “A” at the start, italicise that as well: