A brand style guide is a document that defines and communicates the visual identity, tone, and values of your brand. It helps you maintain consistency and coherence across all your channels and platforms. But how do you create a brand style guide that is comprehensive and effective? Here are some tips to follow.
Before you dive into the design elements, you need to have a clear vision of your brand strategy. This includes your brand purpose, mission, vision, values, personality, voice, and target audience. These are the foundations of your brand identity and they should guide your choices and decisions throughout the style guide.
You must determine what your company stands for and what makes it unique. Define your mission, vision, and values that reflects your desired brand image & persona. Develop a clear and consistent brand message that communicates your value proposition and resonates with your target audience. Consider your brand tone, language, and positioning while creating messaging guidelines. Visual elements that represent your brand, such as logos, colors, typography etc. Ensure that these visuals align with your brand personality and appeal to your target audience. It’s extremely important to educate and involve your employees in your brand strategy. They should understand and embody your brand identity, as they are the face and voice of your company.
Truly understanding your target audience is always key! Their insights shape your brand's voice, visuals, and the unique solutions you offer. This deep understanding informs every choice in your brand style guide too. Whether it's the playful fonts that click with Gen Z or the sophisticated color palette that appeals to CEOs, your style guide should resonate the “why” at every touchpoint — creating brand advocates from designers to copywriters to employees. That's the magic of knowing your audience. Remember, a comprehensive style guide isn't about setting limits; it's about freeing others to express your brand confidently and creatively. It's the secret to ensuring every interaction reinforces brand consistency and lasting connection!
Créer un socle de marque solide : - culture - valeurs - savoir-faire - savoir-être Et regarder toutes les actions stratégiques décidées en phase avec ce socle Ce qui est une des clés de la stratégie : be consistent
I love starting with purpose, that is why the brand exists (beyond financial gain) and what it aims to solve or improve in the world or it’s market and to who. Sweat the details here and the rest will follow. I also like the approach of adding a why/ why not section in the strategy - why your user will buy the brand but also why wouldn’t they, because all brands have moments where your target audience are tempted to go elsewhere so this should be a core part of the brand strategy to remain meaningful as the environment naturally changes around the brand.
Make it very visual. Easy to use and understand. Show different brand applications. Include contact info in case there are questions. Add links to download, logos, fonts and other assets.
Your brand colors are one of the most recognizable and influential aspects of your visual identity. They convey emotions, moods, and associations that can affect how people perceive and respond to your brand. To choose your brand colors, you need to consider your brand strategy, your industry, your competitors, and your audience preferences. You also need to define a color palette that consists of a primary, secondary, and tertiary color, as well as their variations, shades, and tints. You should also specify the color codes for different formats, such as RGB, CMYK, HEX, and Pantone.
Another thing I think that’s invaluable to clients within their brand guide is showing HOW to use their color palette, not just what colors to use. This means not just including color formulas but detailing out appropriate color combinations that provide adequate contrast / readability as well as advising on how to proportional use these colors together. Not all colors in your brand palette will be used at the same frequency and some colors will be more suitable for headings and body text. And all of this direction on color usage should be demonstrated with clear examples and mockups that illustrate proper application.
Selecting your brand colors is a pivotal decision, as they wield significant influence over how your brand is perceived. These colors convey emotions and associations, impacting audience responses. When making this choice, align the colors with your brand strategy, industry norms, and audience preferences. A well-crafted color palette includes primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, along with variations, shades, and tints. Additionally, defining color codes (RGB, CMYK, HEX, Pantone) ensures consistency across various formats, maintaining a cohesive visual identity.
When working on a colour palette, I start from the general industry research. I like it when every brand code that I create, has meaning related to the brand. Nothing in the brand is coincidental. Including the colours. Colours are a brand language. Official, luxury, friendly, authoritative... we choose what is relevant. Besides, I find it important to see current design, pantone, colour combinations trends.
One thing I've found helpful when choosing colors are online and print-based color combination sourcebooks. Often it is the matching of 2 or 3 unique colors together that becomes a more visible brand identifier than a single-color. Eg Pepsi = blue + red, coke = red + white
Colour, font and logo are vital to memorable, recognisable branding. Coca cola, Marlborough, Supreme, Barbara Kruger diesel- striking red and white. Adidas trefoil, blue white, great examples.
Your brand fonts are another key component of your visual identity. They express your brand personality, tone, and message through typography. To select your brand fonts, you need to consider your brand strategy, your industry, your competitors, and your audience expectations. You also need to choose a font family that includes a header, subheader, body, and accent font, as well as their sizes, weights, and styles. You should also indicate the font usage rules for different contexts, such as print, web, and mobile.
It may seem obvious but don't go with Zapf Dingbats or Zaph Chancery or Zach Braff. Especially the last one because it's not a font.
One of the most fun parts to select within the visual brand identity is the brand font. There is such a wide variety and starting with your brand pillars as a foundation to pick your font is a great place to start.
Choosing the right brand fonts is also crucial for creating a memorable and effective brand identity. To select your brand fonts, you need to consider several factors, including your brand strategy, your industry, your competitors, and your audience expectations. This will help you to create a consistent and cohesive brand identity that reflects your brand's values and personality.
Fonts also plays a crucial role, all the mode of communications going in for the brand should be considered. Font that look good on laptop might not look fine on phone or OOH banner
Here are some examples of how to choose them: Serif fonts like Times New Roman or Garamond suit formal industries like law or academia, offering tradition and respectability. Sans-serif fonts such as Helvetica or Arial are versatile, ideal for tech or modern businesses, conveying simplicity and modernity. Script fonts like Pacifico work well for creative industries, adding a personal, artistic touch to branding. Display fonts like Bebas Neue fit bold, youthful brands, perfect for entertainment or fashion, offering high impact and style. Each font choice should align with your brand's story, ensuring a coherent and effective visual narrative.
Your brand logo is the symbol that represents and identifies your brand. It is the most visible and memorable element of your visual identity. To create your brand logo, you need to consider your brand strategy, your industry, your competitors, and your audience recognition. You also need to design a logo that is simple, unique, relevant, scalable, and adaptable. You should also provide the logo variations, such as horizontal, vertical, icon, and monochrome, as well as the logo usage rules, such as spacing, alignment, background, and size.
Don’t be afraid to consider a logo that brings your brand to life. If it fits your brand identity, and enhances what you want to communicate to your audience, then be bold. Our firm decided to have a “mascot” - an English Bulldog because it represented our unique personalities, embodied much of the qualities we wanted to express, added a touch of humor, stood out more from the crowd, but lastly… we have an actual Bulldog so we used his image and likeness for it and it has been extremely well received. While I am not suggesting everyone should have a mascot, don’t be afraid to be bold or even a bit edgy in your approach as long as it contains your company ethos!
I cannot stress enough the importance of having a unique logo for creating a strong brand identity. Your logo is the face of your brand and it should be instantly recognizable and memorable. A unique logo can help you to stand out from your competitors and create a lasting impression on your audience. A strong brand identity is essential for building trust and credibility with your audience, as well as for creating a consistent and cohesive brand experience across different touch points. Your logo should reflect your brand's personality, values, and vision, and it should communicate your brand's message in a clear and concise way.
When creating your brand logo, certain pitfalls should be avoided to ensure it effectively represents your brand: Overcomplication: A complex logo can be difficult to recognize and remember. Aim for simplicity to enhance memorability and scalability. Generic Design: Avoid generic imagery that doesn't distinguish your brand. Strive for uniqueness to stand out in a crowded market. Irrelevance: Ensure your logo aligns with your brand's essence and industry. A mismatch can confuse your audience and weaken your brand message. Inflexibility: A logo must be scalable and adaptable across various mediums and sizes. A design that loses clarity when resized or lacks versatility can limit its usability.
Die Erstellung eines Markenlogo ist ein wichtiger Schritt für die visuelle Darstellung Ihrer Marken. Definieren Sie, welche Botschaft Ihr Logo vermitteln soll und wie es zur Gesamtidentit?t Ihrer Marke passt. Entscheiden SIe Welche Formen und Farben Ihr Logo enthalten Soll. Eine Starke Markenidentit?t und ein gut durchdachtes Logo tragen dazu bei, das Image Ihrer Marke zu pr?gen und einen bleibenden Eindruck bei Ihre Kunden zu hinterlassen.
Without wishing to over complicate matters please remember that brands today have to operate in many new environments, many of them tiny and screen based. So don’t create a mark that will only be recognised and composed in luxurious space and scale and with high fidelity detail. Be bold and test in the extreme edge cases at each step of the way because the more versatile your brand, the better it will be perform.
Your brand imagery is the collection of photos, illustrations, icons, and graphics that you use to enhance and support your brand message. It is the part of your visual identity that adds context, meaning, and emotion to your content. To establish your brand imagery, you need to consider your brand strategy, your industry, your competitors, and your audience engagement. You also need to select images that are consistent, relevant, high-quality, and diverse. You should also define the image style, such as color, tone, filter, and composition, as well as the image usage rules, such as source, attribution, and modification.
As someone who created print and branded client marketing products over three decades, I've seen many instances where the visual identity - specifically the logo - did not consider the logistics and limitations of print and reproduction technologies. How will it look on a t-shirt or a water bottle? Is there a single color version to reduce production costs? Are the logo colors reproducible across different print technologies or will they be expensive to attain accurately? Colors that look great on the designer's computer screen may never be attainable on a printed brochure or a conference tote bag. Experienced designers know this, and it's cheaper to pay for this knowledge upfront than in a thousand little decisions later.
Unless you can afford your own photoshoots, you'll be using stock images that everyone else has access to as well. So, be mindful about how you can make that imagery more ownable through composition and editing, as well as finding a consistency with the image choice overall.
To establish brand imagery in your strategy, start by clearly defining your brand identity and target audience. Consistently incorporating your brand colors, logo and style elements across all touchpoints, including marketing materials, website, and social media. I recommend finding a photographer that you can schedule a photo shoot with quarterly which will allow you to have consistent yet imagery unique to your brand versus stock photos. This helps in building recognition and reinforces your unique voice amongst your audience.
Brand imagery is often an overlooked element of a brand. Your brand imagery supports your brand's values and resonates with your audience to create a unique, consistent visual style. This is why custom imagery is so important. But if you must use stock, be very selective and adjust it so it more closely suits your brand.
Building your brand imagery is like curating a gallery of moments that tell your brand's story – each image a brushstroke on the canvas of perception. It's not just about pixels; it's about creating a visual language that resonates. Dive into the visual tapestry, consider the emotions, and choose images that speak the same visual dialect as your brand. Let your brand imagery be a window into the soul of your story, inviting your audience to see and feel the narrative you're weaving.
The final step of creating a brand style guide is to document and organize all the information and specifications that you have defined for your brand identity. This is the document that you will share with your team, your partners, and your clients to ensure that everyone follows the same standards and principles when creating and delivering your brand content. To document your brand guidelines, you need to consider your brand strategy, your industry, your competitors, and your audience accessibility. You also need to format and structure your document in a clear, concise, and comprehensive way. You should also include examples, best practices, and dos and don'ts for each section of your brand style guide.
I would add that stress testing your brand elements on actual deliverables is crucial. This ensures that the brand you develop not only looks great but is functional and effective in all practical applications.
Investing on a brand book (only because of the visual identity) that consolidate who is the brand as an individual is a great asset. According to a business time life this document can be used not only inside the company but also as a main reference for stakeholder, creative and strategic partners. A brand is a life asset of a business, it grows and can be adaptable and flexible to the different changing contexts but it shall always remain unique to the original essence, that for sure is the biggest challenge.
My recommendation is to build your brand guidelines as an online resource! Makes it easy to update when needed. And make those guidelines available 24/7 to people (associates and external agencies/designers). You can make the brand guidelines as broad or narrow as you wish. Challenge is to find a good balance between "telling it all" and "telling what's really needed" by the users of those guidelines.
The creation process of a Brand and its guidelines is usually the easy part. The next part is constantly improving, refreshing and applying the same consistency across all brand touchpoints. A brand guide has to be well-fleshed out and yet flexible enough for changes and unique applications in the future.
A common misdeed I have seen in SMEs is a dearth of documentation- especially in less physical elements like brand guidelines. While they may have colours, logos, and a personality they would like their brand to portray, they do not document this. 'Documentation is like food when you're hungry. If it's good, it can also make you happy but if it's bad, at least it's better than nothing.' No matter the size of your business, devoting time and resources to curating your brand guidelines shows you your present place and path for the future. Ensure to incorporate your visual identity, brand story, values and other features into (a) compact, easy-to-understand document(s). Good luck!
A brand manual is only effective if it’s actionable. Involve the people who will be using it early in the discovery and requirements process. Include guidelines with proofs of concept so they have clear examples of how to implement, and follow up to identify gaps you may have missed.
Audio space is becoming increasingly important. Think about the vast uptake of podcasts for instance. So it is worth thinking about sonic branding and establishing it in all video and audio based communications so the listener always know it’s you!
Ensure you center your purpose and how you serve your consumer. Yes, it's imperative that you make sure that your visual identity is protected and displayed correctly in all communications. However, it is critical that you remember that your visual identity should encapsulate or introduce who you are and WHY you exist. Furthermore, your purpose and how you serve should inform how you activate your brand comms, actions, and experience. Your brand guide is so much more than just about your logo, color, and fonts.
Brand goes far beyond marketing elements. Engage your internal community and ask them in what ways they bring the brand to life, and if pivoting what a phased approach may look like. How do you get your team to live and breath your brand, how does it sync to your recognition activities, your customer journeys, your planning activities, etc. Bringing to life a brand requires adoption and sustainment plans with everyone owning the outcome.
most brand books are self indulgent and designed so that its creators and brand leaders get a pat on the back. Keep it concise and develop real world examples of its application in parallel. If you provide 18 versions of a logo treatment, it will become 180 versions in the real world, at which point it’s like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube. Also. Have one longer and one short version. Long one for designers, short one for everyone in the company in a format that they can leverage and deploy into all areas of the business (mainly sales decks!)