How to create the ultimate brand guide
Brand guides are available add-ons for all of our logo Design Contests and bundles. This essential tool gives businesses and designers clear guidelines on how to communicate a brand effectively.
Let's learn how to create an awesome brand guide that will wow your client.
by Vuk N.
What is a brand guide?
A brand guide is the set of rules that a business or organization follows when presenting their brand to the world. It details things like the story, voice and audience of a company to ensure consistency across all communication channels.
Before you begin
by SB_notion
Talk to your client
Some clients may not know what a brand guide is or what its benefits area, so be prepared to explain it to them. We have blog articles that your client can read to understand better. Head to the bottom of this page for a list.Set the right expectations
If your client needs a basic brand guide, look no further than our template (download it below). If they're after a more complex guide, then we encourage you to start a separate project on our 1-to-1 Project platform where you have the power to set an appropriate rate.
Do your research
We can't stress this enough. Know the full story before you begin designing. Ask your client as many questions as you can to understand their brand, and make sure they give you all the elements you need to build the brand guide.
Divide and conquer
Generally, you handle the design aspects of a brand guide, which includes the logo, colors, fonts, images and usage guidelines. The client should provide the rest before you proceed to layout.
Creating the brand guide
Below is a breakdown of our standard brand guide template. Remember that each client will have different requirements, so you'll likely omit certain elements or add additional ones.
Components
by Ethereal
Cover
The cover sets the tone of the overall brand guide. The most popular option is to include the company logo on the cover.
About
This will include your client's business information and brand story.Logo and usage
This section describes how the brand logo should be used, including size requirements and color specifications. For example, if the logo comes in wordmark and icon forms, establish clear rules of where and when each form should be used.
Typography
Decide how fonts will be used. Do you want to keep all copy in regular 12 pt? Italics only? Or absolutely not in bold?
Color
Provide primary and secondary colors in HEX, RGB and CMYK values to ensure brand color consistency.Your designer profile
This is the perfect spot for your short profile, which includes your contact details, experience and portfolio. Make sure your links work properly!Glossary
Include all the specific design terms used in the brand guide.End
Finish strong by reiterating the look and feel of the brand. Use a straightforward approach with the company address and logo on the side, or an artistic approach with a great quote against the primary brand color. Your client should definitely have input here.Download the brand guide template
Finishing your brand guide
Things to remember
- Make sure all links in your brand guide work. Seeing "Click here to see my portfolio" without a link is never good.
- Submit the full brand guide as a single pdf file. Separate files will confuse your clients. Download this doc if you're not sure on how to export to a single pdf file.
- Modify the brand guide to meet your clients' needs. Feel free to add creative touches if it fits the brand.
- Keep your design simple. Complicated design get in the way of presenting information.
Submitting to your client
Make sure you submit the correct files to your client. Each should have all pages of the brand guide in a single file.
- A high-res, editable source file of the final design (PSD, AI or INDD)
- A print-ready PDF file with all the fonts outlined
We've included three brand guide samples below to give you an idea of how a finished brand guide should look. Click on each image to download them!
