Brand Guidelines

Create your own Brand Guidelines

After creating your marketing pieces you should have a logo or header, a few typefaces, colors, photos/videos/illustrations, and design elements that you used. You should document those elements on a brand guidelines sheet. Use the template below to create yours.

Below is the Adobe Illustrator template to use for your brand guidelines. Adjust it as needed to fit your needs.

Brand guidelines template to use

brand-guidelines-template.ai.zip Download

A brief explanation of each category on the template

Logo
This is the primary logo your client uses. Show it in full color and black and white if possible.

Colors
This section is extremely helpful when other designers are designing for your brand. It lists the Pantone spot color, the CMYK equivalent of the Pantone, and the Web hexadecimal color. You should include the 3–5 main colors you used.

Here’s how you get the color information:
You should have started with a CMYK color when you began designing your logo, header, illustration, or marketing piece. You’ll enter that CMYK color information from your Illustrator file into Photoshop. Like this:

Typography
This area shows the exact typeface your brand uses. I find it helpful to show the alphabet, numbers, and which weights come with the typeface too.

Art/Photo Direction
If your brand uses a unique illustration style or a customized photo filter, show several examples of it here. This helps set the tone for how other designers will use new photos with your brand.

Repeatable Design Elements
If your brand uses a specific border style, corner treatment, wave design, dotted line, gradient, etc. this is where you’ll show them. These elements help to hold a brand identity together and make all your marketing pieces look like they go together. Consistency is key.

Overview

At some point in your career, you’ll be asked to create a brand guidelines book for a client. This is the essence and foundation of any organization’s brand message.

Brand guidelines outline, usually in great detail, what the organization stands for and what message they want to communicate to their target audience. It also details what the visual brand must look like. Each guide shows specifically what logos, typefaces, colors, design elements, and photography styles must be used. It is important to read and fully understand the brand guidelines before you begin designing for a client.

Why create brand guidelines?

The main reason is consistency. You want everyone’s designs to look and feel the same and to communicate the same message. It simplifies and clarifies the message your audience receives. Remember: Make it easy for your reader to hear your message—create order from chaos.

BRAND GUIDELINES = CONSISTENT MESSAGE AND LOOK = BRAND RECOGNITION = BRAND LOYALTY= COMMUNICATION

Student Examples

What are brand guidelines?

Below are several examples of real brand guideline books. You’ll see a common pattern in most books. They typically follow this main outline:

Brand
- Mission
- Reputation
- Personality
- Audience
Visual Identity
- Logo
- Colors
- Typography
- Imagery (Photos, art, repeatable design elements)
How to apply the brand to marketing material
- Various Marketing Pieces
- Business Cards
- Letterhead
- Email Signature
- Brochures
- Web ads
- Posters
- Social Media
- Banners, etc.