Creating A Brand Guideline
Consistency is the lifeblood of a memorable brand. But how could you ensure that your brand looks and feels the same everywhere? The answer is a brand guideline, something akin to a rulebook that guides your team so they present a unified image of your brand in the world, whether online on your website or on social media and marketing materials.
The clear guidelines of brands mean building trust with the customers to easily recognize your brand, which also makes it stand out in a crowded marketplace. Do you want your brand to leave a lasting impression?
Read on to learn how to craft effective brand guidelines that work.
Why Do You Need a Brand Guideline?
Brand guidelines make your brand look and even feel the same across all channels. Such consistency typically breeds trust, recognition, and loyalty. Even superbrands like Coca-Cola and Apple have rules on how their logos and fonts must be used and in what colors. Such brands are identifiable instantly everywhere around the globe.
For instance, red and white- the colors associated with Coca-Cola have always matched the company’s iconic script font for decades. Consistencies in advertising also resonate by Apple’s push toward simplicity.
The aforementioned iconic elements all spring from detailed brand guidelines that help keep their messaging and visual identity strong across all channels.
How to Create a Solid Brand Guideline?
Define Your Brand’s Core Elements
Before your brand guidelines, you should outline its core elements as follows:
Mission Statement: This simply explains what your brand does. Nike’s mission says, “Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” A mission about becoming the provider leader in a given industry by Amazon is “being Earth’s most customer-centric company.”
Values: These are the principles you stand for. Value can be from sustainability to innovation, shaping how you relate with your customer and how that customer views you.
Target Audience: Knowing who your audience is is equally important. Your audience influences your messaging, your tone, and visuals. For example, a younger audience may respond well to using more casual language and vibrant visuals, while a professional audience may respond better to formal use of the tone and sleek design.
Expert Tip: Ensure that your mission, vision, and values are clear and understandable so that all people involved in your brand can align to the core message.
Establish Visual Identity
The first thing everyone recognizes about a brand is its visual identity. It has to be both consistent and memorable. In the visual identity, everything that includes the logo, color palette, typography, and images has to be considered.
For example, McDonald’s employs its golden arches and red shades at all its outlets, billboards, and even packaging of its products. This way, everything goes instantly identifiable anywhere you go.
- Logo & Visuals: Make sure it applies correctly with criteria about the gaps, the size, and the positioning of the logo. Prepare versions for different background and media types.
- Color Palette: Select primary and secondary colors with unique HEX, RGB, or CMYK codes to ensure your digital and print materials will look consistent.
- Typography: Choose a typeface that resonates with your brand’s persona. Formal or informal, be sure to have unified font uses for headings, subheadings, and the body text.
A good visual identity provides familiarity to the viewer, which means that your brand will be more recognizable for them over time.
Define Brand Tone and Voice
The voice and tone of the brand should mirror personality. Think about it; the tone is how your brand would speak as if it were a person. For example, Nike’s tone is bold and motivational in inspiring athletes to “Just Do It.” On the other hand, Innocent Drinks use a fun, playful tone that mirrors their casual, health-conscious vibe.
Define your tone and voice by starting by considering who you are speaking to. Professionals? Formal and polished. Young, casual audience? Friendly, conversational. Your brand’s values will also come into play: are you sustainable? Then your voice might be more educational and forward-thinking.
Consistency is the key. Whether it’s a blog post, social media update, or email, the tone of your content must seem uniform on all channels, and thus create a coherent brand image that resonates with your audience.
Final Word
Creating an effective brand guideline is something that’s essentially about mapping out the core elements of your brand, really establishing a strong visual identity in the market, and ensuring that your tone and voice are actually according to your message.
Looking forward to building or revising your brand guidelines? You could start now by clearly defining your brand’s mission and visuals so your brand doesn’t lose its way in the marketplace.
