What’s in a brand guidelines document (and why it saves you money)
Logo rules, colour codes, fonts, spacing and the stuff not to do. What goes in a brand guide and why it stops your brand drifting.
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A brand guidelines document is the rulebook for your brand. It shows how to use your logo, lists your exact colour codes and fonts, sets spacing and sizing rules, and shows what not to do. Anyone making something for your business, from a sign shop to a new hire, uses it to get it right the first time.
What's in a brand guidelines document?
Every business is different, but a solid guide covers these sections.
Logo usage
- Primary logo, secondary logo and icon, and when to use each
- Clear space: the minimum empty space around the logo
- Minimum size, so it never gets too small to read
- Construction: how the mark is built, so nobody redraws it wrong
Colour
- Every brand colour with its HEX (web), RGB (screen), CMYK (print) and Pantone value where needed
- Which colour is primary and which are accents
- Approved colour combinations and colourways
Typography
- Headline and body fonts
- Sizes, weights and spacing
- Fallback fonts for when the main one isn't available
Supporting elements
- Patterns, illustrations, icons, mascots
- Photo style: what your photos should feel like
Dos and don'ts
Examples of the logo stretched, recoloured, placed on a busy photo or crammed against the edge. Showing the wrong way is often clearer than describing the right one.
Applications
Examples on real things: signage, social posts, packaging, business cards, apparel. This shows people what "right" looks like.
A real example
For Deez Treez Smokeshop the guidelines cover the primary logo and its construction, clear space, the DT monogram for small spaces, secondary and alternate logos, brand colours, typography and tested colourways. Their sub-brand logos for the shop's own products follow the same rules, so every product looks like it belongs to the same shop.
How long should brand guidelines be?
As long as it needs to be and no longer. For a small business, 10 to 30 pages is normal. A one-page brand sheet can work for a brand that's just starting out. Big companies run to 100+ pages because they have hundreds of people using them.
A guide nobody reads is useless. Short and visual beats long and thorough.
Why brand guidelines save you money
Without a guide, every new vendor guesses. The printer picks a close-enough green. The new social media person uses a different font. The sign shop stretches the logo to fit. Each one is small, and every one costs you: reprints, redos, and a brand that slowly stops looking like itself.
This is common. In a Lucidpress survey of 400+ brand managers, 85% of organisations had brand guidelines, but only 30% consistently enforced them. Having a guide isn't enough. It has to be easy to use and actually handed to people.
A guide saves you money three ways:
- Fewer mistakes. Vendors get it right the first time.
- Faster work. Nobody asks "what's our green again?"
- Less redesign. The brand holds up for years because it doesn't drift.
Brand guidelines vs. brand style guide vs. brand book
People use these interchangeably. Loosely:
- Brand guidelines and brand style guide usually mean the same thing: visual rules.
- Brand book sometimes includes more: mission, values, voice and messaging.
What matters is what's inside, not what it's called.
What to do with your guide once you have it
- Send it to every printer, sign shop and designer you work with
- Put it in a shared folder with the logo files
- Give it to new hires who touch marketing
- Update it when something changes, instead of letting people improvise
Every project I deliver includes guidelines and every file in every format, so nothing drifts. If your brand looks a little different every time someone new touches it, book a 15-minute call.
FAQ
What is included in brand guidelines?
Logo usage rules, clear space and minimum size, colour codes (HEX, RGB, CMYK, Pantone), typography, supporting graphics, dos and don'ts, and examples on real applications.
What is the purpose of brand guidelines?
To make sure everyone who creates something for your business uses the brand the same way, so it stays consistent and recognisable.
How many pages should a brand guide be?
For a small business, 10 to 30 pages is typical. Shorter is fine if it covers logo, colour, type and usage.
Is a brand style guide the same as brand guidelines?
Mostly, yes. Both describe the visual rules. A brand book sometimes also covers mission, values and voice.
Do I need brand guidelines for a small business?
If more than one person or vendor creates things for your business, yes. That's when brands start to drift.
Sources
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