Every small business reaches the moment where someone else starts making things with its brand. A new hire designs a flyer, a printer asks for your color codes, or a freelancer builds your social posts. Without guidelines, each one guesses, and your brand slowly drifts into five slightly different versions of itself.
Brand guidelines fix that. Here's what to put in them and how to create a version your team will actually use.
What Brand Guidelines Are
Brand guidelines are a short reference document that explains how your brand looks and sounds. They tell anyone creating something for you which logo to use, which colors and fonts are allowed, what your photos should feel like and how you talk to customers.
They're not about being rigid. They save time: nobody has to ask what the blue is or which logo goes on a dark background.
What to Include
- 1
Brand basics
One paragraph on who you serve, what you do and how you want people to feel. It gives every other rule its reason.
- 2
Logo
Your main logo and its variations (horizontal, stacked, icon only), the clear space around it, the minimum size and which version to use on light and dark backgrounds.
- 3
Color
Primary and secondary colors with exact codes: HEX and RGB for screens, CMYK and a Pantone match if you print. Say which colors pair well and which combinations to avoid.
- 4
Typography
Your heading and body fonts, fallback fonts for email and documents, and simple rules for sizes, weights and capitalization.
- 5
Imagery
The style of photos and graphics you use: lighting, subjects, real people vs illustrations, and anything off limits.
- 6
Voice and tone
Three to five words that describe how you sound, with short examples of how to say things and how not to.
Show, Don't Just Tell
The most useful page in any guide is the one with examples. People copy what they see much faster than they follow written rules.
Logo
- Don't
- Stretch it, recolor it or add effects
- Do
- Use the approved file with clear space around it
Color
- Don't
- Pick a shade that looks close on screen
- Do
- Use the exact codes from the guide
Type
- Don't
- Mix in extra fonts for variety
- Do
- Use your heading font for headlines only
Photos
- Don't
- Generic stock that could be any company
- Do
- Real customers and your actual work
Voice
- Don't
- Jargon your customers wouldn't use
- Do
- Plain, friendly and direct
| Area | Don't | Do |
|---|---|---|
| Logo | Stretch it, recolor it or add effects | Use the approved file with clear space around it |
| Color | Pick a shade that looks close on screen | Use the exact codes from the guide |
| Type | Mix in extra fonts for variety | Use your heading font for headlines only |
| Photos | Generic stock that could be any company | Real customers and your actual work |
| Voice | Jargon your customers wouldn't use | Plain, friendly and direct |
Check your color contrast
Make sure your text and background color pairs are easy to read, especially on your website and buttons. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) set minimum contrast ratios, and free contrast checkers will tell you in seconds whether a pairing passes.
How to Create Your Guidelines
- Gather what you already use. Collect your logo files, website, business cards, signage and recent social posts. Note what's consistent and what isn't.
- Make the decisions. Settle on one main logo, a small color palette and two fonts. Fewer choices make a stronger brand.
- Get the files right. Export your logo as vector files (SVG, EPS or PDF) and transparent PNGs, in full color, one color, black and white.
- Write it up. One topic per page, short sentences, lots of visual examples.
- Put it where people work. A shared folder or a simple web page, with the logo files right beside the guide. Send the link to anyone who makes things for you.
Is your brand drifting?
Send us your logo, website and a few recent posts. We'll point out where your brand is inconsistent and what a simple guide should cover.
Keep It Usable for a Small Team
Big companies publish brand books with dozens of pages. A small business doesn't need that, and a long guide often goes unread. Keep it practical:
A guide your team will actually use
- Fits in 5 to 10 pages
- Opens with a one-page summary: logo, colors, fonts, voice
- Includes ready-to-use templates for social posts, flyers or email
- Lives in one shared place everyone can find
- Names one person to ask when something isn't covered
- Gets reviewed once a year or when you launch something new
Templates do more for consistency than any rule. If your team starts every social post or flyer from an approved template, most of the guide is followed automatically.
Where Brand Guidelines Pay Off
You'll feel the difference anywhere several people or suppliers touch your brand: your website, social media, ads, vehicle wraps, uniforms, packaging and printed materials. Consistent branding makes you easier to recognize and easier to trust, and it makes every new design job faster because the big decisions are already made.
The Bottom Line
Good brand guidelines are short, visual and easy to find. Cover your logo, colors, fonts, imagery and voice, show clear examples, and keep the files right next to the guide. If you'd like a proper logo set, palette and guide made for you, our graphic design services include a starter brand kit, and our social media marketing team can keep every post on brand once it's done. Planning a new website too? Read our comparison of Wix vs Squarespace.
