The Importance of Brand Guidelines

You worked hard to create your brand. Having thorough brand guidelines will protect the time, money, and effort spent developing the perfect brand strategy and visual identity.

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What are brand guidelines?

Brand guidelines are a tool used to define and maintain the integrity of the look and feel of your brand. They contain the rules and standards used to create anything and everything your brand touches.

Why do brand guidelines matter?

Brand guidelines support you and your team. You aren’t relying on just one person to know everything. It’s all written down. If your trusted designer moves onto a new job, you aren’t stuck scrambling to figure out your fonts and hex codes. It’s important to note that brand guidelines aren’t just used by designers. They are also used by marketing teams, copywriters, web developers, and many others. As your business grows, more people become involved. Brand guidelines help new hires and contractors quickly get up to speed.

Your whole team will work faster and more efficiently with all the important details in one document. Brand guidelines ensure consistency and accuracy across all materials created within your business. And they help avoid personal preferences that might not resonate with your target audience. 

Brand guidelines help you connect with your audience. Consumers respond to consistency because repetition drives recognition. Consistency makes your brand appear more professional and trustworthy which in turn increases brand retention and customer loyalty.

Fun Facts:

• Brands with consistency are 3.5 times more visible to consumers. 
  
• Consistent brand presentation across platforms increases revenue by 23%. 
  
• A consistent color palette increases brand recognition by 80%.

What to include in your brand guidelines?

At their simplest, brand guidelines should contain the standards for your visual identity.

• Logo: Your primary logo, variations, minimum usage size, and required clear space. Demonstrations of how not to use the logo. For example, not to add effects bevel, emboss, or drop shadows.
  
• Color palette: Breakdowns for each color mode (PMS, CMYK, RGB, and hex codes), ratios indicating how much of each color should be used. 
  
• Typography: Headline and body fonts, hierarchy and size examples, alternatives for web
  
• Imagery: Icons, patterns, and photography available for use. Standards for the creation or purchase of new assets.

More thorough guidelines may contain:

• Brand strategy: Purpose, mission, vision, values, etc.
  
• Brand voice: Personality, tone, core messaging, writing style, and common terminology.
  
• Usage examples: Images of marketing pieces that are the perfect representation of the brand in use.
  
• File information: An explanation of the different file types, when to use them, and where to find them on your business’s server or other online storage space.

Your brand guidelines can include anything you want. Feel free to include any information you or your team find helpful such as social media content pillars or the marketing team’s contact info. And don’t worry, if you’ve previously created your brand, it’s never too late to create your guidelines.

Need help creating your brand guidelines?