Why you need a brand guide and how to create one

Brand guidelines are an important design aspect of your business. They are used throughout your website, social media, publications, business cards and emails as a way of keeping your brand consistent and becoming recognised.

Your brand guide (style guide, brand guidelines - it's called many different names) should start with your mission statement. What is your business goal? What do you stand for?

With your target customer in mind you should put together the most important design elements such as brand colours, your logo (in various formats), font type and size and taglines (like Nike's Just Do It). Basically any part of your brand that will be repeated should be included in this guide so you can easily refer back to it.

Brand guidelines become even more important when outsourcing. Your designers, developers and everyone in between should be given a copy of your guidelines when you've finished. This ensures everyone is on the same page and all work published by your company remains consistent.

Have a look at the Red Cross example below. Listed are the logos (and where they should be used), print size, colour schemes and proportions, type and tone of voice. This document will be used throughout the company by everyone at Red Cross and is a fantastic way of keeping their brand and message consistent.

RedCross Brand Guide