Creating A Brand Style Guide
When it comes to creating a brand style guide, consistency is everything!
Think of a Brand Style Guide as a rule book containing specifications on everything from typography and color to logos and imagery for a specific company or organization. Brand Style Guides help graphic designers, marketers, web developers, and even product packaging departments all stay on the same page, and present a unified vision of the brand to the public. The best brands stick in our brains because their presence is defined by the repetition of the same logo, fonts, colors, and images.
Why Having A Brand Style Guide Is Important
Your company is more than just the products or services you sell. A strong brand tells the world why they should choose you over all the other options on the market. A brand style guide tells your team how to stay true to that brand. While some brand style guides are as thick as a novel, others are a simple one-page reference. It all depends on your company’s needs. The important thing is that it lists all your basic brand elements and can act as the singular point of reference for any future design project.
What You Should Include In A Brand Style Guide
When it comes to developing a strong and consistent brand, having a Brand Style Guide is essential. This document should outline everything from your brand fonts and colors to your logo usage and social media guidelines. By creating a Brand Style Guide, you can ensure that everyone who represents your brand – from employees to freelance contractors – is using the same visuals and messaging. This helps to create a cohesive look and feel for your brand, which in turn can build trust and credibility with consumers. While it may take some time to put together a Brand Style Guide, it is well worth the investment in order to build a strong and successful brand.
Include Your Company Logo
You may have established what color your company logo should be, but do you know how it’s going to look in different environments? This section of your brand style guide ensures your CT Logo Design is used in the way you intended. It also prevents mistakes—like stretching, or adding effects that could send the wrong message.
Remember to include all approved versions of your logo, describe when to use each one, and show visual examples to make it really clear.
Your Brands Color Palette
Defining a brand’s color will go a long way towards creating a consistent look and feel. A color palette is a group of colors a company uses to design its brand, and it guides every piece of visual content the brand creates. In terms of color schemes, a well thought out style guide should list out specific RGB and hex codes. These codes consist of numbers and letters to help you recall the exact shade, brightness, contrast, and hue you want associated with your brand, so your colors don’t gradually drift in appearance as you create new content. Your color palette can guide your: Logo, Website Design, and Print Material. The Adobe Color Wheel is a great resource for exploring the perfect RGB and Hex codes for your style guide
Typography
Another important part of your identity design is font selection. Typographic guidelines can support your blog design — which font you use on letterhead — the links and copy on your website, and even a tagline to go with your company logo.
No matter how simple or complex your typography scheme is, make sure it’s used in all the right ways by explaining the choice and giving clear instructions for use.
- Introduce: Tell the story of the typefaces are you using, how it relates to your brand.
- Alignment: Make it clear if you want copy to always align right, left, or centered.
- Spacing: Include tracking and kerning ratios to maintain a consistent style when font size changes.
Style Guide Examples Worth Checking Out
NYC Transit Authority
When it comes to services, few brands are more iconic than the NYC Transit Authority (NYCTA). Like NASA, the NYCTA has its own Graphics Standards Manual, and it includes some fascinating typography rules for the numbers, arrows, and public transit symbols the average commuter takes for granted every day.
NASA
NASA’s “Graphics Standards Manual” is as official and complex as you think it is. At 220 pages, the Brand Style Guide describes countless logo placements, color uses, and supporting designs. And yes, NASA’s space shuttles have their own branding rules.
See the full brand guide here.
Urban Outfitters
The Photography, color palette, and even tone of voice appear in Urban Outfitters’ California-inspired brand guidelines. However, the company isn’t shy to include information about its ideal consumer and what the brand believes in, as well.
See the full brand guide here.
Developing a consistent brand starts with creating a brand style guide. These branding rule books help graphic designers, marketers, web developers, community managers, and even product packaging departments all stay on the same page, and present a unified vision of the brand to the public.
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“Good Design’s not about what medium you’re working in. It’s about thinking hard about what you want to do and what you have to work with before you start.” – Susan Kare