Verbal identity

Messaging provides the foundation for developing content for a broad range of communications. It establishes what we stand for as a company and identifies what differentiates us from our competitors. Messaging helps frame a narrative about industry challenges and provides talking points on how Autodesk’s solutions address those issues. Using these as a guideline to inform your communications ensures that we’re telling a coherent and consistent Autodesk story and creating memorable experiences for our customers.

The future of making things is the Autodesk story. But what exactly does it mean?

It’s a moment in our history that is bringing with it radical changes in the way things are designed, made, and used. It’s disrupting every industry: architecture, engineering, and construction; manufacturing; and media and entertainment. With the right knowledge and tools, this disruption can be a great opportunity for our customers.

Industries are converging, and they’re innovating more quickly. It’s apparent in the microfactories that mass-customize products for demanding consumers. Or the construction companies that manufacture their own prefabricated walls and ductwork. Or the media firms that take cues from the automotive industry and previsualize their entertainment properties.

In the future, successful businesses will approach the ideas and practices of design-make-use in a new, dynamic way. The process of creation has evolved beyond a simple linear path into integrated cycles of input and feedback.

Today’s dominant technology trends—cloud computing, mobile technology, social connection, and collaboration—are driving businesses and consumers alike to explore profoundly different ways to design, make, and use things. This kind of industry transformation has happened before, but the pace of change is now much faster. In today’s competitive landscape, anyone can be an innovator—and it’s all about who innovates first.

Convergence. Integration. Connection. It's happening now, across industries. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or part of a larger organization. Technology gives startups the same shot at success as corporate giants.

And Autodesk is uniquely positioned to prepare its customers to thrive in this era of disruption.

For more information on the future of making things in specific industries, visit our A360 page. 

Or for a more general overview, go to autodesk.com/future-of-making-things.

You can also view or download the Autodesk story as presented by Greg Eden, our VP of Brand & Communications.

Make anything.

This is how we describe Autodesk in two words. It is the core of what we believe—that anyone can literally make anything they imagine when equipped with the right tools.

Voice and tone play a huge part in how we connect with our customers, employees, and the media in written and spoken communications. But voice and tone should not be confused as the same thing.

Voice reflects our persona, embodies our brand attributes, and establishes consistency. The Autodesk voice is welcoming and informal, engrossing and endearing, intelligent and intuitive. It’s also authentic, which means speaking like a real person, or as you may know it, SLAP (access required), and avoiding jargon and buzzwords. Our voice always remains the same.

But tone—how we say it—can change depending on audience, medium, and goal. Another way to think about it: You don’t change your voice or personality because you’re talking to different people but you do change your tone depending on whether you’re talking to your boss or a group of friends.

For guidance on how to capture Autodesk’s brand in written and spoken communications, check out the Autodesk voice guidelines (access required). Also, join the #adsk-slap Slack channel for more on how to incorporate SLAP in your work.

All new product names must be reviewed by Naming and are subject to approval by the Branding Committee.

For more information on the naming convention and process and all naming requests, contact naming@autodesk.com.

The Autodesk Web Editorial Style Guide (access required) is a single, universal guide to help us speak with one voice across the company. It’s your main resource for all customer-facing content—from marketing campaigns to support articles and learning content.

Use these style guidelines as your first reference. For style issues not covered here, refer to The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition. For spelling, capitalization, and hyphenation not covered in this document, use the first-listed spelling on Merriam-Webster Online. 

• Search is the fastest way to find something.
• The word list includes alternate spellings as well as the preferred spelling for easier searching. For example: “acknowledgment (not acknowledgement).” If you search on acknowledgement, you will find the preferred spelling, acknowledgment.

Consider this the style guide quick reference. See the Autodesk Web Editorial Style Guide above for greater detail.

Product names are treated differently depending on deliverables. For specific guidelines for web (autodesk.com) versus print, see below.

Use the complete Autodesk product name in all prominent applications, including titles, headlines, press release headlines, headers, subheads, signage, banners, and all other similar situations.

Use the complete Autodesk product name at the first mention in body copy on each page. Body copy includes introductory text set in large type. For physical media such as product boxes, each side of the box is considered a separate page.

All product names must begin with Autodesk; it is permissible to omit Autodesk for the second and subsequent mentions in body copy on the same page, whether print or web. The product name must be used again in full for the first mention on each subsequent page.

Drop Autodesk in product names for all copy references on autodesk.com (e.g., AutoCAD, instead of Autodesk AutoCAD). Exceptions: Autodesk 360 and Autodesk PLM 360 must always include Autodesk.

For external web properties where the Autodesk brand is not explicit, use the full product name, including Autodesk.

For Autodesk-branded programs, retain Autodesk in the name: Autodesk University, Autodesk Consulting.

A complete list of current product names with correct trademark symbol usage is available on our legal information page.

Here are a few basic points when using product names in text. See the Autodesk Web Editorial Style Guide above for greater detail.

• Do not break product name elements across lines
• Do not use product names as possessives or plurals
• Do not abbreviate product names

Many Autodesk product names include one or more trademarks. Careful attention to proper trademark use helps avoid confusion and protects the intellectual property of Autodesk.

Trademarks are that portion of the product name immediately to the left of the ® or ™ symbol. Always use the appropriate trademark symbol, whether ® or ™, with the associated trademark in the first prominent mention in a document, including introductory paragraphs, as well as in the first mention in body copy. Do not include trademark symbols in headlines, headings, or subheads. Trademark symbols must be legible without magnification, at a size appropriate for the publication.

Trademarks are adjectives and should be treated as adjectives, to be followed by the appropriate noun (software, technology, file, functionality) at least in the first mention in the text of a given piece (for example, Autodesk® Revit® Architecture software). After the first mention, continue to treat the mark as an adjective, even if the modified noun is implied. Do not use trademarks as possessives or plurals.

On the last page of a print publication include a trademark paragraph incorporating a list of all trademarks used throughout the publication. For a list of trademarks, detailed guidance, and sample tradegraphs refer to our legal information pages.