5 Things That Should Absolutely Be Included In Your Brand Style Guide

If you’ve never worked with a graphic designer or a graphic design agency you may be wondering, what is a brand style guide? Or better question, why do I need one for my business?

Answering the “what” in this post here and the “why” below…

Think about that business or brand that you admire, the one that always seem to have it together and everything they do looks super professional and “on-brand”. I can assure you that that business has a brand style guide.

Whether they are a one-woman-show or have a team of 100, they “keep it together” with a document that spells out the design rules of their business including specifications on everything that plays a role in the look and feel of their brand - their brand style guide.

With a brand style guide, no matter who works on graphic designs for your business, YOU will have it together too! Which means, your brand will look more polished and professional in the eyes of your clients and customers leading to better brand recognition and confidence in spending their hard earned money with you.

A basic brand style guide should include 5 things…

1. Reasons for choosing and interpretations of design concepts

   1. Design should always be done with intention and design choices should always be made with your ideal client or customer in mind. Your brand style guide should outline some of the “why” behind design choices. Bonus, some of the words or verbiage within these explanations also become rules for your copy and tone of voice.

2. Mood board & photography examples

   1. A collection of images that showcases the feel or “vibe” your business is aiming to put out into the world. Your brand style guide should include a mood board for this reason as well as several examples of photography that portray your “vibe” for reference.

3. Logo variations

   1. Your logos and the rules for use should be included in your brand style guide. This means outlining situations when the horizontal or vertical versions of your logo should be used, scenarios where it’s encouraged to use a different color logo, plus what colors that includes and when design marks (if you have any) should be included.

4. Color palette

   1. Color is the EASIEST way to achieve consistency within your brand and business. Simply using all the same colors across all the graphic design in your business elevates customer confidence. Your brand style guide should outline the color palette for your business including numeric values - HEX, CMYK and RGB codes.

5. Typography

   1. Same as your color palette, establishing and using 2-4 consistent fonts brings cohesion to the look and feel of your business. Your brand style guide should not only include the fonts to use but the weight and spacing of letters and situations where each font style would provide the best value.

Of course, this is not a exhaustive list. Every business is different and your brand style guide could also include design marks, icons, patterns, color pairings and descriptive words/sentences/paragraphs pertaining to your business.

Ready to get it together? Let me help you make decisions on the look and feel of your brand and design a brand style guide for your business!