How to Create Brand Guidelines.

Key takeaways

• Brand guidelines ensure your brand is instantly recognisable out in the wild and that those working for your business always create material that aligns with your vision.

• Brand guidelines can include many components, from a clear logo to a colour scheme, tone of voice in copy, and even certain imagery.

• Discover how to approach creating brand guidelines and how to tackle rebranding with Adobe Express.

All successful brands start somewhere. From concept to marketing, your brand should build a strong identity that resonates with consumers. That’s where brand guidelines come in. This set of rules outlines how to use written and visual elements in your content for public perception.

Our guide will explore what brand guidelines are, their benefits, and what to include in your own brand guidelines document. Develop comprehensive style guides and get each member of your team up to speed with logo and font templates from Adobe Express.

What are brand guidelines?

Brand guidelines, or brand style guides, are a set of clearly defined standards and rules that summarise your brand’s identity. Think of it as a handbook filled with all the key details about your brand – including how it should look, sound and be viewed by consumers.

Brand guidelines encompass your brand’s values, unique selling points (USPs), mission statement, vision and more. This helps to create a consistent message and feel across your entire business – from your products and packaging to your website and social channels.

What to include in your brand guidelines.

All brand guidelines should act as a comprehensive rulebook for establishing your brand. This ensures that it’s represented consistently across all channels and touchpoints. Here are some of the most common elements to include.

Your brand’s values, vision and mission.

Your values, mission statement and vision shape the backbone of your brand. So, it’s only right that these are clearly outlined at the start of your style guide to make sure everyone is on the same page. Think about your brand’s principles, purpose and aspirations and build a solid foundation for your brand identity guidelines.

Logos with approved variations.

Your brand guidelines document should explain how to correctly use your company logo, including formats, colour variations and placements. Provide an example of your logo on a plain background versus a patterned one, or on social media channels versus the website.

Colour palette.

Brand guidelines should also focus on colour palette for consistency and brand recognition. This includes swatches and colour codes with the relevant CMYK, HEX and RGB codes for accuracy. It’s especially crucial for team members designing for print and digital.

Fonts and typography.

Fonts and typography are a huge part of your brand guidelines. You’ll need to identify which fonts you’re going to use, the text alignment, spacing considerations, sizing and more. Whatever your typography design, it should be standard for your brand.

Key images and icons.

Image guidelines ensure that your brand carries a consistent photographic or illustrative style throughout. Include aspirations and best practice examples in a variety of contexts that have performed well for your brand in the past. You can also include examples of what images not to include.

Tone of voice.

Tone of voice is crucial for your brand guidelines as it strongly impacts the way consumers connect and associate with your brand. Reinforce your brand’s core values and provide a house style guide of your visual tone, including content marketing, slogan use and email etiquette.

4 of the best editable brand guideline examples.

Tips for building your brand identity.

Building a brand identity involves some key steps:

• Identify who you want to appeal to. Your brand needs to speak to your potential customers, so take some time to identify who you want to sell your services or product to. Buyer personas are a good start, allowing you to break down your preferred audience by what appeals to them, so you can match your brand identity and capture their interest.

• Competitor research. Checking in on what your competition is doing and what’s working for them.

• Creating consistent visual elements. Everything from your logo to the colours on your website to the font on your business card should be consistent and in line with your brand.

• Agreeing on your tone of voice. How you address customers and staff internally should reflect your brand, its values and mission. Ensure that everyone is aligned on what words to use and what to avoid when speaking to others while representing your business.

Try Adobe Express for free now