What is a Brand Guide?
A brand guide (from English “Brand guide” – brand handbook) is like a recipe for the best version of your brand. Think of it as a treasure map that will help you discover and maintain the unique identity of your brand. In marketing and graphic design, it is a key tool used to define guidelines for using brand elements and ensures effective communication with customers.
What does a brand guide include?
Usually, the brand guide is divided into two main parts: brand voice and visual guidelines.
Brand Voice
This section describes how to express the brand in written communications such as social media posts, blog articles, website text, and more. It is crucial to maintain a consistent tone and style in everything we write. When creating the brand, we consider the most significant words and messages that best describe it. These ideas are then included in the brand guide, along with the brand’s mission and goals. It is important not only what we want to say but also how we say it, to convey the right message. The brand guide may include different communication approaches when addressing multiple target groups. Even if the product is the same, it is important to consider various strategies for engaging different audiences. This ensures that each target group receives the appropriate attention and approach that best resonates with their needs and preferences.
Проект: Project: Brand Guide for Zaya
Visual Guidelines
The second part of the bagpipe covers the visual rules of the brand. This is where it is explained how and where to place the brand logo, what distances to keep, what photos and illustrations to use. Attention is also paid here to typography – what fonts, sizes and spacing are used and in what situations. The color palette is also an important element, describing which colors are primary and which are accent. There may be product ranges with different color codes – the guide is where this is described. At the end of the bagpipe, there are usually examples of branding and design according to the needs of the company – t-shirts, notebooks, magazine pages, etc.
Your brand guide may be either simple or more complex and detailed, depending on the brand’s needs and its brand identity. For example, if the brand has different logos for various situations, the brand guide should provide detailed instructions on when and how to use each logo.
The decision on how detailed the brand guide should be depends on the specifics of your brand. Some brands may manage with a simpler guide, while others may require more comprehensive instructions to ensure the correct use of brand elements across different situations, communication channels, and advertising media.
Project: Brand guide for VPN APP “Zauber”
Why is the brand guide important?
All these guidelines are very important because they help maintain consistency in communication with customers. Without a brand guide, the original intent of the brand identity can be lost, leading to a shift in direction and design.
In addition to internal use by company employees, the brand guide can also be used by external parties, such as subcontractors or companies that partner with the brand on joint projects. When a brand guide is available, anyone involved with the brand will have a consistent understanding of it, ensuring that it is communicated consistently to potential and existing customers. This means that perceptions of how brand elements are used will not be chaotic, and the brand’s image will be preserved and developed correctly.
In the guide, everyone associated with the brand will find precise information on how to use the logo and other brand attributes correctly, as well as how to position them in combination with partner logos. This ensures that everyone is on the same page when it comes to presenting your brand.
The more complex and layered a brand is, the greater its need for a brand guide, as many people are involved in creating the brand’s creative materials. Often, large companies include their brand guide on their website so that anyone who needs it can access it quickly and easily.
When is the right time for a brand guide?
The brand guide is created after establishing the color palette, logo, brand voice, and all other elements. If you are just building your business and brand, now is the ideal time to develop your brand identity and then consolidate these elements into a brand guide.
Project: Brand guide for VPN APP “Zauber”
If your brand is already well-established but you don’t have a brand guide, don’t worry. It’s never too late to develop brand identity guidelines. Realizing that you need them means it’s the perfect time to create them.
Without a brand guide, it’s nearly impossible to maintain brand consistency. Therefore, to build and sustain a strong brand, you need one. If you’re ready to create such a guide, you’ll need a strategic marketing team to help you define your brand elements and their best applications.
If you’re considering rebranding or are in the process of building your brand, contact us, and we’ll assist you.
Building a strong brand is like preparing a delicious recipe – it’s important to follow the exact guidelines and proportions to achieve the best result!
