Brand guidelines
Brand guidelines design
One clear document that tells your team, your freelancers and your store builder how the brand looks and sounds, with examples of right and wrong.
What the brand guidelines project covers.
Agreed in writing before design starts, so you know what is in the project and what is not.
- What the brand is
Purpose, tone and the few ideas every piece has to respect.
- Logo rules
Versions, clear space, minimum size and the common mistakes.
- Colour and type
Values for screen and print, pairings and the hierarchy of a page.
- Imagery and layout
How photographs, illustration and grids behave, with examples.
- Store and packaging rules
How the brand carries to a product page, an email and a pack.
What you receive at the end.
What you receive at the end of the project.
- The guidelines document
- Editable templates for the most-used pieces
- A quick-start page for new team members
- A shared asset folder structure
How the project runs.
Four steps, each with something you can approve before the next one starts. The schedule for each is written into the proposal.
Audit
We collect every piece of the brand that exists today.
A map of what is consistent and what is not.
Decide
The rules that matter most are chosen, and the rest is left out.
The structure of the document.
Write and design
Each rule is written briefly and shown with an example.
The guidelines in draft.
Hand over
A walkthrough for the people who will use them.
The final document and templates.
Related work.
Self-initiated studio concepts, each with its identity, applications and website.
Common questions
About brand guidelines
What are brand guidelines?
A document that explains how a brand should look and sound, so anyone who makes something for it gets it right the first time.
Is a brand book the same thing?
Often. People use brand book, style guide and brand guidelines for similar documents. What matters is that it is short enough to be used.
How long should the document be?
As short as it can be while covering the choices people get wrong. A few well-chosen pages often work better than a long manual.
Can you write guidelines for a brand someone else designed?
Yes. We begin with an audit of what exists and decide with you what to keep.
Do the guidelines cover the online store?
They can, with a chapter on pages, components and product imagery.
Do we get editable files?
The templates are delivered in editable form.
How long does it take?
The schedule is in the proposal before work starts.
Also as one project
Brand identity, planned with this one.
A name, a mark and a system that a consumer brand can put on a pack, a shelf, a campaign and a product page without losing its voice.
Tell us what your team keeps getting wrong.
A short request, a call to see what exists, then a proposal with scope and schedule in writing.
Scope and schedule in writing before design starts.
- 01You tell us about the project in a short request.
- 02A short call to agree what the project needs.
- 03A proposal with scope and schedule in writing.