What is a Brand Style Guide and Why You Need One
Updated: Jul 28, 2021
Businesses often overlook the need to define their brand identity before or shortly after launching. As a result, they suffer from a lack of consistency in their business documentation, marketing collateral and social media images. This lack of consistency can confuse your target market. I would recommend that every business have a Brand Style Guide to ensure continuity throughout all visual elements representative of the brand or the brand cause.
What is a Brand Style Guide?
In a nutshell, a Brand Style Guide is a visual guide that gives a complete breakdown of all that your brand embodies. It outlines exactly how your brand should look and feel when represented visually and in branded documents.
At a minimum, your Brand Style Guide should include the following:
Your Brand Logo Your logo should be laid out in all approved colors and versions. No version of the logo outside of what is provided on the style guide should be in use by the company.
Your Brand Colors The style guide should also include all colors approved for use by the company. This allows for a consistent look and feel throughout all company materials.
Your Brand Fonts Any fonts authorized for use should also be included. You will want to specify the circumstance under which each font is used (i.e. header, sub-header & body text).
The best Brand Style Guides also incorporate their mission statement, values, vision and impact. They also detail the inspiration for the brand giving insight into why the selected fonts, colors and visual elements were chosen to represent the brand.
Your Brand Style Guide should be supplied to any employee or consultant creating company documents or marketing collateral and any Graphic Designer your company outsources to. This creates a clear vision for your brand and allows you to set clear expectations for anyone creating brand related materials.
Are you in need of a Brand Style Guide? I have branding packages designed to bring your brand full circle with your vision to attract your desired client. If this article resonated with you and you'd like to work with me, click the button below and schedule a consultation. It's free and there is no obligation. If we are a good fit, I'd love to work with you one on one to help position your brand to attract the clients of your dreams!