Have you ever received marketing materials from a potential partner or vendor and noticed how all of their branded materials look seamless and well-coordinated? Brand consistency is crucial to maintaining a professional look and feel throughout the organization. Brand guidelines often serve as the first step to achieving consistency, but unfortunately, many companies are too busy to start the process. Then, because employees don’t have proper branding guidance, issues can pop up down the road.

Creating a brand guideline document doesn’t have to be complicated, though. To avoid brand deviations and educate about best practices, all your company needs is a short list of general rules for logo usage, brand colors and other specifications. In this article, we’ll outline the major areas to focus on in your own guidelines to help everyone correctly represent your company and achieve a more consistent brand presence.

Logo Usage

One of the most common issues we see clients face is consistent usage of their logo without any accidental distortion or manipulation. Naturally, the average employee may not realize they’ve stretched the proportions of their company logo or rotated it incorrectly while building a quick presentation or flyer. For those reasons, the first section of your brand guidelines should provide instruction on how to properly use your brand’s logos.

Before jumping into all the wrong ways to use the logo, provide a reference to the correct representation of your primary, secondary, and inverse logos. You should also include when it’s most appropriate to use each of these versions. For example, note that the primary logo is the default representation of your brand, and employees should only use the inverse logo against darker backgrounds.

Once you’ve established the proper logos, you can dive into the common mistakes people make when using the logo. It may be helpful to include visual examples of incorrect usages, including rotating, destructing, stretching, distorting, outlining, or otherwise modifying the logo. Creating a thorough list of dos and don’ts can act as a valuable resource for employees as they use your logo in the future.

Color Specs

Next up, make a list of the Pantone, RGB, CMYK and hex codes for each of your brand’s official colors. If your colors are navy, light blue and yellow, for instance, all three colors should have four different color codes listed, one for each corresponding color system. Pantone is typically used for promotional products, while CMYK is used for printing, hex is used on the web, and RGB is used to for digital assets that require more vibrant colors. With those guidelines set, no matter which system your team needs to use in a given situation, you’ll be able to find the value that matches your brand’s official color.

In your guidelines, reinforce that there is no “close enough” when it comes to brand colors. Even small variation or changes to color can create inconsistency and confusion for your audience. Many brands also choose to reference secondary supporting colors in their guidelines to help your team strategically choose complimentary accent or theme colors in their materials. Just be sure to reiterate that the core brand colors are the only ones that can be used in your logo itself.

Official Typography

In addition to specifying your brand’s specific color codes, it’s also important to note the fonts used for each word or symbol in your logo. For example, you might use the type Gotham for the name of your company, but choose Akrobat for a supporting brand tagline. When indicating the appropriate fonts, don’t forget to add specifications like boldface, italics, and font weight. Using Akrobat Bold instead of an italicized Akrobat Light will result in a distinctly different-looking logo.

We also suggest using your brand guidelines to explain exactly when and how to use each font. Include directions on font usage for each word in your logo, as well as which fonts should be utilized for headings, subheadings, and body copy. In this explanation, it should be clear that the stated typography cannot be used interchangeably in order to keep consistency across brand materials.

File Formats

The final page of your brand guidelines should include logistical directions on how to use each logo file format. This will likely include popular formats like jpeg, png, eps, pdf and ai, but can certainly contain other files that are relevant to your industry. For each of these formats, include a short explanation on when it should be used and how it is different from the other file types. Additionally, you should create a secure folder that holds all of the different logo files, and keep the folder accessible only to key stakeholders who may need to reference them.

With all your logo files listed and ready for use, your brand guidelines are nearly complete! As an optional addition, you might consider providing guidance on how to select stock photographs, including brand-relevant themes to search for as well as broader considerations like diversity and color composition. Keep in mind that if your organization decides to refresh your logo in the future, you’ll need to revisit these guidelines and make changes as needed for continued brand consistency. For those looking to create a new brand or find a partner to help with a strategic rebrand, we’d love to chat with you.