What Goes in a Brand Guide, and Why Your Printer Needs One
A brand guide keeps your business looking the same everywhere, whoever is designing. What it should include, how detailed it needs to be, and how to get your team to use it.
You paid for a logo and colours. A year later, your flyers use a different red, your Instagram uses three different fonts, and the printer stretched your logo to fit a banner.
That's what happens without a brand guide. It's the rulebook that keeps your brand consistent, whoever is designing.
What a brand guide includes
1. Brand foundations
- Who you are and what you stand for, in a few sentences.
- Who your customers are.
- Your brand personality in three to five words.
This helps anyone creating for you understand the feel, not just the rules.
2. Logo
- The main logo and alternative versions: horizontal, stacked, icon.
- Colour versions: full colour, black, white.
- Minimum size.
- Clear space around the logo.
- What not to do: stretching, recolouring, adding effects, placing on busy backgrounds.
3. Colours
- Primary, secondary, accent and neutral colours.
- Exact codes: HEX and RGB for screens, CMYK for print, Pantone if used.
- How much of each colour to use.
See how to choose brand colours.
4. Typography
- Headline and body fonts.
- Sizes and weights for different uses.
- Fallback fonts for when the main ones aren't available.
5. Imagery
- Photography style: lighting, settings, people, mood.
- Illustration or graphic style, if used.
- Examples of right and wrong.
6. Voice
- How you write: formal or friendly, short or detailed.
- Words you use and avoid.
- Example captions, replies and headlines.
7. Templates and examples
- Social media templates.
- Flyers, letterheads, invoices, business cards.
- Packaging and signage examples.
How detailed should it be?
For a small business, a 10 to 20 page guide with clear examples is plenty. The goal is practical use, not a coffee-table book.
Getting people to use it
- Share it with everyone who creates anything: staff, freelancers, printers, agencies.
- Give them the files: logos in every format, fonts, templates.
- Make templates so most designs start from your brand, not a blank page.
- Check new work against the guide before it goes out.
- Keep it in one place that's easy to find.
Why printers need it
Printers work from what you give them. Without exact CMYK codes and correct files, they match colours by eye, and every batch looks a little different. Send your guide and print-ready files with every job, and ask for a printed proof.
Common questions
I only have a logo. Can I make a brand guide?
Yes. Even a two-page guide with your logo rules, colour codes and fonts helps a lot. A designer can expand it later.
How often should it be updated?
When something changes: new products, new templates, a refresh. Otherwise, it should stay stable.
If you'd like a full identity and brand guide, see our brand identity service.