The Importance of Brand Guidelines (& What You Should Include In Them)
"Are Brand Guidelines important? Should my business have them?" The answer to these questions is HECK YES!
Brand Guidelines ensure your brand consistency and cohesion and should be consulted to avoid your brand being deluded over time. Once the brand design process ends, these guidelines will ensure the brand you’ve developed together with an Art Director or Designer will still work like a charm once the original designer is out of the process. So these guidelines are your "training wheels".
Every time you design new assets for your brand, they will help you build them in a strong cohesive way.
Now "What should be included in these Brand Guidelines?" I put a list of the essentials on Instagram, so if you’re following me there, this is an extended post covering all the basics. Starting with…
001
BRAND OVERVIEW
This is the introduction to get the essentials of your client and their project. Introduce their core values, the goals they want to achieve and their overall creative and artistic direction.
002
MOODBOARD
Use this one to get the whole brand vibe. Use the basics so the person reading these guidelines for the first time can get the brand’s feel just by looking at it. You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!
003
LOGOS
Include all the different logo variations, but don’t stop there… specify how to use them! Some logo variations have been specially designed to be used in certain situations and you should make it clear where every logo can and can’t be used. You can also expand to DOs and DONTs and set some rules of spacing between the brand logo and the other elements around it.
004
TYPEFACE SYSTEM
Although many people won’t notice at first, your brand typefaces are as important as your brand colours and they can be overlooked by most, but trust me when I say that using the proper fonts is a must to make any brand look cohesive throughout printed and digital applications. Make sure to include what typefaces are you using and where it’s appropriate to use them.
005
BRAND COLOURS
I can’t stress enough the importance of brand colours and their proper use. Specify what colours can be used and don’t be shy about it: Pantone, CMYK, RGB, HEX… you name it! There’s nothing more terrifying than realizing the green-coloured logo from Instagram doesn’t match with the green shade you’re using for a website or printed material. Include the main colour, secondary colours, and accent colours… as well as what colours should be combined and what colours should never be present (or put together) on your brand.
006
LAYOUT SYSTEM
Layouts can go in a WILD number of different directions. Setting several layout templates for both digital and print applications for your client to use will make the designing process so much easier for them, and they will truly appreciate it! It’s a great moment to set some rules, DOs and DON’Ts, and explore the different possibilities that align with your brand.
007
PRINT & DIGITAL APPLICATIONS
It’s mockup time! There are terrific mockups around for growing creatives you can use to make your flat designs pop like magic. This is a great opportunity to show your clients the outcome of these guidelines for them to see how everything works together: typefaces, colours, layouts… They’ll see the rules at work and get a general idea of the endless possibilities there are to explore using the brand guidelines.
008
IMAGE GUIDELINES
Art Direction never hurt anyone! In fact, it can save lives! People don’t get credit enough for how important is to choose adequate imagery for your brand. Make sure these guidelines state what that image direction should look like to align the branding, either your clients are using stock photos or planning to do their own brand photoshoot!
And… that’s it! Of course, every project and client has its own specifications and these are just the basics, but they are the perfect starting point. Feel free to adapt them and add items to customize them according to the needs of your clients and the project you’re working on and you’ll be good to go! 🤍
