Use these email signature guidelines to present a more unified, professional appearance for official University communications.
These are recommended for all faculty and staff.
Do’s and Don’ts
- Do keep it simple, including only essential information in three to eight lines.
- Do use common fonts such as Helvetica, Calibri, or Arial, sized 12–14 points. Other fonts may not display correctly.
- Do use a single color, such as black or dark gray.
- You can include simple URLs (without “http://www”).
- Social media links in plain text (without icons) are optional.
- If you’d like, do include your preferred pronouns and name pronunciation.
- Don’t include logos or graphics; they increase file size and appear as attachments.
- Don’t include vCARDS; they increase file size and appear as attachments.
- Don’t include tag lines or quotes; they may be perceived as University-wide statements.
- Don’t include a street address unless you frequently host visitors.
Minimal signature
John Smith
Assistant Director of Email Guidelines
Boston University Marketing & Communications
617-353-8022
Signature with multiple phone numbers and links
John Smith
Assistant Director of Email Guidelines
Boston University Marketing & Communications
jsmith123@bu.edu | bu.edu/marcom
617-353-2000 (office)
617-555-1234 (mobile)
617-353-8467 (fax)
Signature with mailing address
John Smith
Assistant Director of Email Guidelines
Boston University Marketing & Communications
985 Commonwealth Ave., Suite 221
Boston, MA 02215
jsmith123@bu.edu | bu.edu/marcom
617-353-2000 (office)
617-555-1234 (mobile)
617-353-8467 (fax)
How to Change Your Signature
Instructions for the two most common email clients can be found at Microsoft Outlook and Google Mail. For best results, type your signature directly into your email software.