Smart brands stand out. They create brand identities to differentiate themselves from the rest. This is more than just creating a logo. It is what makes your business stand out from the rest.
A brand guide is a tool that many business owners use to establish and maintain a consistent brand image across all aspects of their brand. It is recommended to create a style guide if you want to be a market leader.
This article will describe what a brand guide looks like and explain why it is so powerful. We will also help you create one that grows with your business.
How do you make a brand styling guide
- You should define your brand identity.
- Research your competitors
- All elements must be included
- Collect collateral
- Plan for brand development
What’s a brand style guide?
Your branding strategy should include a brand style guide. It is an index of your brand identity.
A set of guidelines that define the aesthetic standards for your brand. These style guides are the best to help you identify the most important attributes of your brand’s identity design.
What’s the value of brand style guides?
A consistent brand identity is key to your business’ growth and success.
A comprehensive and detailed style guide will forever define your brand’s image. A comprehensive style guide will help define your brand’s image to all stakeholders.
How do you make a brand styling guide?
It is amazing to combine all your great ideas for branding and create one visual guide.
01. Your brand identity should be
What are your brand’s message and identity?
02. Do your research on your competitors
To see what peers are doing, do some market research. Do some market research to see what your peers are doing.
3. All elements must be
Every brand has its style guide and each one will be executed uniquely. It’s important to ensure your style guide is consistent and easy to use.
- Introduction
- Typography
- Color palette
- Photography & iconography
- Grid system
- Tone and voice
04. Collect collateral
Review your brand style guidelines and your collateral goals. If you use social media, you should emphasize your brand’s tone and copy.
05. Plan for brand evolution
Great brands can change. Make sure to keep your brand style guide updated.
What should your brand style guide include?
Now let’s understand what a brand guide is.
Your brand’s mission is presented
The introduction to your brand style guide should be concise and clear.
Logo
The logo design of your brand is your signature. You should include it in your style manual. You should include all details regarding how your logo will be used in the design, including file formats, spacing, and size rules.
Tip: If you are short on time or have limited resources, an online logo maker is a great choice.
Typography
There are many font styles and sizes available. Customers will interpret your message differently if you have typography.
This section should contain the primary and secondary fonts your business will use. Designers and vendors often use this section.
Color palette
It can be fun to pick the right colors for your company. Some businesses even trademark their colors.
There may be five to ten colors that a brand uses to express its personality.
Photography & iconography
Photography and iconography are important for marketing, blogs, and other material related to your business. These images should match your brand identity.
This section will help identify the qualities that your brand’s imagery should possess and how visual assets should feel (brightness or naturality, etc. You might need custom illustrations. You will need to decide on your illustration style.
Grid system
The brand style guide should contain a method to organize your content. This is particularly important for directing printed materials such as business cards and company letterheads.
Tone in voice
Who are your target audience’s speakers and why?
This section in your brand style guide will help writers to use the right language when writing copy about your brand. By using a consistent tone, your audience will be able to recognize your brand’s character.
Example of brand styling guides
These are strong brand style guidelines. Visit our style guide examples for more inspiration.
Spotify
Spotify’s branding style is simple and modern. They specify the background colors that can be used for each version of their logo.
Starbucks
The Starbucks brand style guide gives a comprehensive overview of the history and evolution of the brand. The new design system reflects the diversity of Starbucks’ customers’ experiences, while still keeping the core elements of their brand.
Netflix
The primary logo of Netflix is in red and has a black background. As you can see, the logo’s arc represents the arc in a classic CinemaScope. They state however that this is only used for very specific occasions, such as the video watermark.
LinkedIn’s brand philosophy is that it should appeal equally to all users. This guide is intended to convey LinkedIn’s warmth.
Uber
Uber has created a clear and concise style guide, which includes key elements of its brand identity design. Uber’s style guide is concise and effective. It includes core elements of its brand identity design.
