1. Kick off your brand style guide with a great brand story
Brand stories wrap up a company’s vision, mission, and core values in one nice little package.
2. Use logo guidelines to create a recognizable brand signature
All of the top brand style guides outline rules for exactly how to use their logos, to make sure nobody sends the wrong message with their brand.
That includes specifications on how much space to leave around their logos,
A great brand style guide also includes every acceptable colour variation for a logo.
It’s usually a good idea to dictate minimum logo size here too. Figure out the smallest size at which your logo is still legible in print and on screen, and make sure it doesn’t appear any smaller than that.
create clear guidelines to make sure your logo is represented in the best light.
3. Include your brand’s core colour palette
To keep brand recognition intact, it’s more important than ever to make core brand colours well known and consistent. Include the necessary hex codes, RGB values, and CMYK colour codes to make sure your colours are presented consistently across media.
Definitely include your core brand colours with hex codes and RGB values, but also consider adding useful shade variations and some on-trend examples of do’s and don’ts.
4. Choose typography that matches your visual style
Typography is one of those things that goes unnoticed if it’s done well, but sticks out like a sore thumb if it’s not. Allowing font choices to slip under your radar can really cheapen your brand. To enhance your brand experience, use a brand style guide to ensure typography is consistently applied across your collateral. This means outlining what fonts are used for what purposes (in print and on the web). Specify your font and design hierarchy with respect to font sizes (big for headers, medium for sub-headers and smaller longer paragraphs) and font weights (light, bold, heavy, etc.):
5. Find your brand voice
The importance of having a consistent brand voice in your messaging should not be underestimated. Spend some time finding the style that resonates with your audience and aligns with the personality of your brand. Once you have it figured out, ensure that it’s replicated across your channels by spelling it out in your brand style guide!
6. Include image and data visualization guidelines in your brand style guide
Last but certainly not least, it’s time to talk imagery. Everything about your imagery, including style, colour, and content, contributes to the perception of your brand. Create some guidelines for imagery (photos, illustrations, charts, infographics, etc.) to include in your brand style guide. Specify when and where to use infographics and data visualizations, and include style preferences and technical conventions. Give clear directions on how to approach a data visualization: Followed by some definitive rules for labeling and styling those visualizations:
Ultimately, you shouldn’t send mixed messages when it comes to your brand. If you as a brand owner can’t keep consistency for your own image, it will be difficult to convince a customer to trust the reliability in your products or services.
Make sure to:
Kick off your brand style guide with a great brand story
Use logo guidelines to create a recognizable brand signature
Include your brand’s core colour palette
Dictate your typography hierarchy
Define your brand voice
Specify the imagery and iconography that makes up your visual style