Brand Style Guide Template

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of best practices and design guidelines for creating a consistent brand image and identity. The document includes the guidelines on using brand assets and identity elements, such as logo, colors, fonts, and tone of voice for creating corporate assets, such as advertising materials, stationery, and other items and artifacts associated with the brand.

Logo and identity guidelines

Logo introduction

A logo is one of the key elements of brand design and is the main media identifier of your brand. The main purpose of the logo is to build brand recognition and to serve as a visual representation of your brand values, mission, and identity.

(Insert suggested logo here).

(After inserting the logo, describe what stands behind it and briefly explain each of its elements to make sure the client understands why this logo is suggested).

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Logo guidelines

This logo is to be used on all corporate communications, both offline and online. The logo consists of a logomark and logotype which must be used together as a single entity on all occasions. You should avoid splitting logomark and logotype to keep the brand representation visually consistent.

Please follow these guidelines for using the logo:

(Insert logo usage guidelines here, including padding, scaling, logo placement, and logo dimensions).

Consistent logo usage is essential for communicating your brand values and single brand vision across all channels. There are some additional tips on what to pay attention to when using the logo:

• Please avoid unnecessary stretching, rotating, and choking your logo (Insert visuals with examples).

• Don’t forget to include the logo on all brand communications; otherwise, the message becomes detached from your brand (Add visuals to show the difference between a proper and improper corporate message).

• Avoid adding filters and special effects on your logo, as they may deviate from the official visual image of your brand (Show visuals to illustrate how filters and special effects make the brand look inconsistent).

• Do not separate the logo parts from each other (Show examples of how separation changes the brand representation).

• Do not change logo colors, as the colors used on your original logo are the colors that are used on all brand communications. Using different colors for the same logo negatively affects your brand consistency (Show visuals with examples).

• Do not subtext your logo, do not add additional titles, headings, or other textual elements to the logo. Use the logo as a separate element that can be added to any textual information, but never alter the logo itself by adding text to it directly (Show visuals to illustrate this issue).

Logo usage and variations

There are a lot of occasions when different variations of your logo might be needed, such as email signatures, leaflets, banners, billboards, and other corporate communications. We offer a set of logo variations that you can choose from for these different occasions.

Even though there are logo variations, the same logo guidelines and conventions must be applied to each of them to keep your brand representation consistent. Each logo variation must abide by the guidelines and conventions that are applied to the main corporate logo.

(Insert all logo variations, including the main logo, here. In case any of the logo variations has additional guidelines, list them by that logo).

Typography and fonts

Font introduction

Font usage

Font variations

In some cases, you might want to use different fonts for internal and external communications. Similarly, different fonts might be used for official corporate statements, such as press releases, and informal promotional activities, such as user incentive campaigns and social media activities. To account for different formats and contexts of use, we suggest a set of font variations that can be used for different corporate purposes.

(Insert font variations here).

Color system

Color specifications

Color is a chromatic element of your brand identity. People tend to associate certain brands and characters, such as Coca-Cola or Santa Claus, with specific color combinations. Have you ever heard of a green Santa suit or an orange Coca-Cola bottle? Most likely, the answer will be “No.” Both Coca-Cola and Santa have been consistently represented via the same color combinations for years, which makes them easily recognizable.

The same principle applies to your brand, which requires consistent use of the specific color palette across all communications channels to be easily recognizable by everyone who encounters your corporate messages.

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We suggest the following color schemes be used in your brand communications:

• Primary colors to be used in all brand publications and corporate messages (Insert visuals with primary colors).

• Secondary colors to highlight and complement the primary colors in your brand communications (Insert visuals with secondary colors).

• Tertiary colors to add diversity to your main color palette (Insert visuals with tertiary colors).

Color overview

Each color has meaning when used as a part of your brand. Here we describe the meaning of each color from your corporate color palette and explain what key brand values the combinations of these colors reflect.

(Insert the visuals with explanations here).

Logo color system

Your logo is the most important part of the brand's visual identity. While you can use various combinations of the secondary and tertiary colors for different purposes, your logo must be consistent on all brand communications. The color system that your logo consists of is presented here. This combination of the following colors must be used for your logo on all occasions:

(Include visuals for the logo color system, including the visuals for showing color proportions to show the share of each color in the overall logo).

Color blend modes

Sometimes it is necessary to adjust the way your brand is represented visually. For example, making a logo background a bit lighter or darker, adding contrast, or switching between the day and night themes on your corporate mobile app. This can be done with color blending according to the following guidelines:

(Insert visuals with explanations of the blending modes for this brand).

Corporate image

There are additional elements beyond the logo, typography, and corporate colors that contribute to the overall image of your brand. Here we describe the additional elements, such as tone of voice, iconography, and grid systems and the ways they inform both offline and online representations of your brand.

The tone of voice

Each brand communicates with target audiences differently, including forms of address, degree of familiarity, level of emotional content, and corporate vocabulary with specific grammar, shortcuts, acronyms, and abbreviations that are used across your brand communications.

We suggest the following tone of voice be used in combination with other elements of brand identity to maintain the consistent image of your brand across all communication channels.

(Insert the tone of voice suggestions and guidelines here, both for formal and informal forms of corporate communication).

Stationery

Web and social media

Iconography

Icons and related paraphernalia are images or symbols that refer to your brand at large and allow others to identify your brand via these images and symbols. Having a consistent set of icons that represent your brand allows you to maintain a consistent corporate image via smartphone apps, web pages, and other digital media.

Icons are also increasingly used for offline materials, such as billboards and leaflets, and serve as brief visual referrals to your brand. Due to their minimalist style, icons are perfect for maintaining an easily recognizable brand identity and creating easily digestible corporate messages.

We have designed the following set of icons as a part of your corporate identity:

(Insert iconography visuals here).