Voice & Tone Guidelines

Campaign Framing

Every Day, Everywhere You Look is a storytelling campaign built around a simple idea: people experience UC Irvine’s impact every day, often without knowing the university is behind it.

Our influence extends far beyond the boundaries of campus. It can be found in the care someone receives, the education that opens a door, the discovery that becomes a treatment, the graduate who leads an organization, the technology that becomes part of everyday life, or the art and ideas that bring a community together.

The campaign starts with the things people can see, feel and experience and reveals what they often cannot: the questions, people, knowledge, research, creativity and commitment that made them possible.

Together, these stories show the many ways UC Irvine contributes to the lives of people and communities across Orange County and beyond.

The goal isn’t simply to tell people what UC Irvine does. It’s to help them recognize UC Irvine in the world around them.

What Fits the Concept?

Simple selection test:

• Can people experience it?
• Does UC Irvine have a meaningful role in making it possible?
• Would that connection be interesting or surprising to someone outside the university?
• Can we show the path between what happens here and what people might experience or come across in daily life?

Remember: Don’t confuse impressive with relevant.
Always ask: What does this make possible for people?

Write Accessibly

Write from the outside in. Start with what people experience. Explain why it matters. Make the complex understandable. Then reveal the people, knowledge and work at UC Irvine that helped make it possible.

The reader should leave thinking differently about something they may encounter tomorrow, that’s where Every Day, Everywhere You Look earns its meaning.

Start with something people recognize.
Begin in the reader’s world, not ours. A doctor’s office. A classroom. A museum. A commute. A phone. Give people something they can immediately picture.

Lead with what it means, not what it is.
Don’t begin with the name of a program, center, technology or research discipline. First explain why it matters.

Write for someone who knows nothing about UC Irvine.
Don’t assume readers understand academic structures, terminology or why something is significant. If context is necessary, provide it simply.

Use everyday words whenever they are accurate.
Complexity of subject doesn’t require complexity in the language.

Explain technical ideas before naming them.
The audience can understand sophisticated concepts when we build a bridge to them. Explain the idea plainly, then introduce the scientific or technical term if necessary.

Put people before institutions.
People experience impact; organizations produce it. Whenever possible, make the person, community or outcome the subject of the content rather than UC Irvine.

Remove unnecessary academic and institutional language.
Names of schools, departments, centers, titles, funding mechanisms and organizational structures belong only when they help the reader understand the story.

Don’t confuse accessible with simplistic.
Preserve the intelligence, nuance and evidence of the work while removing the barriers to understanding it.

Let the discovery unfold.
The campaign works because readers first recognize something meaningful and then discover the university’s connection to it.