A well thought-out set of brand guidelines is key to a consistent and effective brand.
What exactly are brand guidelines? Brand guidelines are a set of rules and general guides developed by your professional graphic designer for how the brand should be displayed across a variety of mediums (websites, brochures, annual reports, advertisements, etc). This can include aspects such as how the logo is displayed, particular fonts to use and when to use them, primary and secondary color palettes, etc.
So now the question is, what is the point of sticking to brand guidelines? There are a variety of reasons:
- Consistency: giving your audience a consistent image of the brand will help solidify and strengthen the impression your brand gives. When there are multiple designers working across media platforms, this will help to ensure everyone is on the same page.
- Accuracy: your designer spends a lot of time to make sure that the fonts and colors complement your logo and brand; by following the guide, you are assured an accurate usage of fonts, colors and logo display.
- Strengthened Identity: When your audience sees your branding time and time again, you want to be sure that it is resonating. Sticking to the brand guidelines strengthens that identity more and more over time.
Your brand communicates what you do and why you stand apart from the competitors. By remaining consistent and staying faithful to your brand guidelines, you will reinforce your message and drive customer loyalty. A steady brand is a dependable brand.
Consistency doesn’t have to mean boring, however. When your designer is developing brand guidelines, there is more than just the logo and fonts and colors of the logo. If you use just the font of the logo, your logo will no longer stand out. Picking one or two complimentary fonts that can be used for display type and smaller body copy should give you a good amount of flexibility. As far as colors go, of course you want to include the main colors of your logo but there should be a full color palette and sometimes a secondary color palette. These colors are chosen carefully and all complement each other so that there enough options for layout, graphics, charts, graphs, etc.
We strongly believe in the value of adhering to brand guidelines. When you do so, you are doing your visual identity a great service. You are establishing your brand’s message and allowing your business to make an enduring impression.
