Brand guidelines: what to include and how to use them to create a strong, memorable brand

Have you ever wondered why some businesses always look like they’ve got their sh*t together, while others, well, don’t?

The answer, my friend, is CONSISTENCY.

Nothing screams professionalism more than a strong, uniform brand – and brand guidelines are absolutely essential to achieving this.

But as a designer, I’ve seen a LOT of brand guidelines in my time, and I have to say, some of them have left me feeling a little underwhelmed.

Because while a one-pager that lists your brand colours and fonts is part of the way towards building a consistent brand – there’s so much more to it than that.

So, what else should your brand guidelines include? And how can you use them to create a strong, memorable brand?

In this article, I’ll give you a behind-the-scenes look at how to create brand guidelines that’ll have you looking professional AF – while also protecting your most valuable business asset (aka, your brand!).

What are brand guidelines and why do they matter?

So, first up, let’s talk about what brand guidelines are (and are not).

They’re not just your brand colours and fonts 🙅‍♀️.

And they’re not just a compilation of the visual elements of your brand with some vague guidance on how to use them.

They’re a set of rules and systems that you can literally hand to ANYONE – and what they create will always be on brand.

Without them, it’s easy to go off track with your content, or jump on trends that aren’t necessarily aligned with you or your business.

Or, you might find your branding starts to look inconsistent, which can affect things like your brand recognition and trust, and even your customer loyalty 😱.

This is especially true if you outsource any parts of your content creation (for example, to a graphic designer or VA).

Everyone has their own distinctive style, whether they realise it or not, and if everyone puts their own spin on your content, it’s easy for those inconsistencies to start to creep in.

But the biggest downside of not having really clear brand guidelines is it just makes creating content so. much. harder.

Creative freedom might sound like a wonderful thing, but it can actually be really paralysing (and can lead to HOURS of wasted time if you’re starting from scratch every time you need to create something).

So, save yourself the stress and go get yourself some guidelines!

What should be included in brand guidelines?

At this point, you might be thinking, “Ok Michelle, I get brand guidelines aren’t just your brand colours and fonts. So what exactly do they need to include?”.

I’m so glad you asked 😂 Because brand guidelines are something I’m super passionate about, and they’re something I truly believe every business should have.

The brand guidelines I develop for my clients (also known as their ‘brand bible’) are typically between 20–30 pages and provide guidance across 3 key areas: brandmarks, brand system, and the visual language of the brand.

Brandmarks

Your brandmarks include things like your logo(s) and submarks (simplified and often scaled-down versions of your logo) – things that obviously need to be included in your brand guidelines.

But different types of brandmarks are used for different things, so it’s important your guidelines not only specify what your brandmarks are, but also how and when to use them.

Take my client The Sunday Collectivist, for example. 

As part of their branding project, we designed a primary logo as well as different coloured submarks to give them a really distinctive and vibrant brand identity.

In their brand guidelines, there are clear instructions on when to use which brandmark (for example, use their primary logo on products, swing tags and their website header, and use submarks for things like their IG profile pic and packaging stickers).

But there’s also guidance on things like how much space to leave around their logo,  and whether their logo and submarks can go over images (and if so, which ones).

By having super-specific guidelines like these, The Sunday Collectivist team knows EXACTLY how to use their brandmarks, AND how to apply them consistently across every piece of content they create.

Brand system

Now we get to the fun bit – colours and fonts!

(Yes, I know I said your brand guidelines shouldn’t only be about your colours and fonts, but they do still need to be in there!).

Your brand colours and fonts make up your brand system – the collection of elements that work together to create a unified, consistent brand.

Like with your brandmarks, your brand guidelines should not only specify what your brand colours and fonts are, but also how to use them.

For example, if you have 2 or more primary brand colours, which one do you use most? Which one do you use least?

If you have 2 or more fonts, which one do you use for your headers? And what font weight does it need to be? 

By being really specific, there’ll be less room for inconsistencies – and it’ll make it MUCH easier for you and your team when it comes to creating content too.

Visual language

The third area your brand guidelines should cover is your brand’s visual language – your icons, photos and imagery, and the way these elements come together across your various brand assets.

The best way to do this is to provide LOTS of examples, including the types of stock images you should use (and where to find them).

It’s also helpful to include examples of HOW your brand’s visual language can be applied across different assets.

This might include things like your packaging, your website, your mobile app – basically any key marketing assets you use in your business.

How to use your brand guidelines

Like with most things, it’s not enough to simply have brand guidelines – you’ve also gotta use ’em!

This means building them into a physical document that you can easily refer to, and then storing this somewhere like a shared drive so that everyone who needs to can access it.

It’s also a good idea to load key elements like your brand colours and fonts into any programs you use, as this will save you SO much time and ensure everything you create is always on brand.

And one final little hack I recommend: stick a Post-it Note with your brand hex colours somewhere you can see it. It may sound simple, but you’d be surprised how often you refer to it – and eventually, you’ll know those numbers off by heart!

Need help with your branding? Check out my branding and rebranding services here.