How to Create a Brand Identity Guide
We walk through the sections of a brand guidelines document, covering logo usage, color codes, typography, visual language and templates, and the steps to prepare it.
Aurora YazılımEditorial team
6 min read
Brand guidelines are a handbook that gathers a brand's visual and verbal rules in a single document. When preparing it, you define logo usage rules, color codes, typefaces, photo and icon language, tone of voice and application templates from business cards to social media. The goal is for the brand to look the same everywhere, no matter who applies it.
What Is a Brand Guidelines Document For?
A brand's visuals are never prepared by a single person. The print shop prints the business cards, the signmaker does the facade lettering, the social media specialist prepares posts, and the dealer has their own poster designed. Without a shared set of rules, each uses the logo in a different proportion, picks the color by eye and applies whatever typeface comes to mind. Within a few months the brand starts to look fragmented.
Brand guidelines, also called a brand book, are the reference book that prevents this drift. They make everyone working with the brand look at the same source, shorten design debates and speed up onboarding with a new agency or employee. The guidelines are the written form of your brand identity work.
Core Sections of the Guidelines
Every guideline has a different scope depending on the size of the brand. For a small business a concise document of a few pages is enough, while a multi-branch brand may need a guide of dozens of pages. The sections below are the skeleton of a healthy guideline.
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Brand essence | Mission, promise, values, target audience, personality |
| Logo | Variations, clear space, minimum size, prohibited uses |
| Colors | Primary and secondary colors, HEX, RGB, CMYK, Pantone codes |
| Typography | Heading and body typefaces, size and line-spacing hierarchy |
| Visual language | Photography style, icon set, graphic elements, patterns |
| Tone of voice | Form of address, writing rules, sample sentences |
| Applications | Business card, letterhead, email signature, social media, signage |
Logo Usage Rules
The most consulted part of the guidelines is the logo pages. Here all versions of the logo, and which one to use in which situation, are shown clearly. We covered how the logo itself should be designed in our logo design article; the guidelines describe how to use it.
- Variations: horizontal, vertical, icon only; color, one-color and reversed versions
- Clear space: the empty area around the logo that no other element may enter, usually measured by the height of a letter or element in the logo
- Minimum size: the smallest size at which the logo stays legible in print and digital use
- Background rules: which version to use on light, dark and photographic backgrounds
- Prohibited uses: stretching, rotating, changing the color, adding shadows, rearranging elements
Brand Color and Font Rules
Color palette
Defining the brand colors and fonts is the most technical part of the guidelines. For each color, write the HEX and RGB codes for screen, the CMYK values for print and, if needed, the Pantone equivalent. Matching colors by eye is the main reason different print shops produce different tones.
The proportions in which colors are used should also be stated. For example, the main color is used on accents and buttons, and neutral tones over large areas. For the web, check whether text and background color pairs meet a WCAG 4.5:1 contrast ratio and list the readable combinations.
Typography
Typefaces for headings and body text, their weights, recommended sizes and line spacings are defined. If the brand typeface is not installed in office documents, the fallback typeface to use must also be written down. Note in the guidelines which uses the typeface license covers (print, web, app).
Visual Language and Tone of Voice
After color and logo, what identifies a brand most is its photography and visual style. The guidelines should explain, with examples, the light, color temperature, framing, use of people and choice of backgrounds in photographs. These rules guide the shooting team in product photography and promotional shoots; you can find the video-side equivalent in our promo video article.
The tone of voice section describes how the brand writes. It covers formal or informal address, emoji use, the exclamation-mark limit, how technical terms are explained, and sample right and wrong sentences. This is how every text, from a social media caption to a customer email, carries the same character.
Templates and Application Examples
What really makes the guidelines usable is ready-made templates. However clear the rules are, designing from scratch for every new job increases the risk of inconsistency. Editable templates should be prepared for frequently used materials and shared together with the guidelines.
- Business card, letterhead, envelope and folder
- Email signature and presentation template
- Quote and invoice document layout
- Social media post, story and cover templates
- Signage, vehicle wrap and clothing applications
- Website color, button and typography rules
Digital channels
Social media templates are the most frequently used part of the guidelines; preparing post and story layouts to fit the brand makes social media management much easier. On the website side, the color, button and typography rules are turned into a design system in the UI/UX design process, and a corporate website keeps the same language on every page.
Steps to Prepare the Guidelines
The guidelines are not a document written after the identity design is finished; they are the natural output of the design process. The order below keeps preparation organized.
- Put the brand essence, values and target audience in writing.
- Finalize the logo and all its variations, and collect the source files.
- Define the color codes by testing them separately for screen and print.
- Settle the typefaces, their licenses and their fallbacks.
- Define the photo, icon and graphic language with sample visuals.
- Prepare templates for the most frequently used materials.
- Publish the guidelines as a PDF and share them with the source files in a common folder.
- Review and update them at least once a year.
Keeping the Guidelines Alive
Even the best-prepared guidelines are useless if forgotten in a folder. Keep them somewhere everyone who works with the brand can reach, and hand them to every new employee and supplier on day one. Appointing a single person in charge makes it easier to check that new materials follow the rules.
As the brand grows, new needs arise: a new product line, a new social media channel, a branch opening. In these cases the guidelines should be extended too. This continuity turns the guidelines from a one-off design job into part of the brand management process. Applying the guidelines correctly in campaign visuals and videos is also the responsibility of the creative production team.
Frequently Asked Questions
01Are a brand book and brand guidelines the same thing?
In practice they describe the same document. Some brands use the name brand book for a more inspirational document that tells the brand story and values, and the name guidelines for the technical rules.
02Should the guidelines be printed or digital?
Today a digital PDF and a shared file folder are the most practical solution. A printed version can be prepared for presentations and archives, but because it is hard to update, the main source should stay digital.
03How many pages are enough for a small business?
Completeness of content matters more than page count. A concise document covering logo rules, color codes, typefaces and a few core templates is a sufficient start for most small businesses.
04Should the guidelines include source files too?
Yes; the guidelines describe the rules, and the source files make it possible to apply them. Logo vector files, typeface information and editable templates should be shared in the same folder as the guidelines, with access permissions defined.
05Who should check things once the guidelines are ready?
A single person or team responsible for the brand should review new materials for compliance with the guidelines before they are published. This check takes time at first, but speeds up within a few months as everyone internalizes the rules.
Brand guidelines are the most effective tool for making your brand look the same everywhere, no matter who applies it. If you would like your guidelines prepared together with the identity work, you can talk to our brand management team, and to apply the templates to your social accounts you can explore our social media service.
