Brand Guidelines: What to Include and What to Skip
The sections every set of brand guidelines needs, and how long the document should really be.
Brand guidelines exist so that someone who was not in the room can produce on-brand work. That is the only test that matters.
Essential sections
- Brand summary: positioning, personality and audience in a page.
- Logo: versions, clear space, minimum size and misuse examples.
- Colour: palette with values and usage proportions.
- Typography: typefaces, hierarchy and fallbacks.
- Imagery: photography, illustration and icon style.
- Voice: how you write. See our tone of voice guide.
- Examples: real applications such as a web page, slide and social post.
What to skip
- Long histories of the company.
- Rules for situations that will never arise.
- Anything nobody will read.
Format
A PDF is still the default, but a web-based guide or a shared design file is easier to keep current. Whatever the format, keep assets downloadable from one place.
Length
For a startup, 15 to 30 pages is plenty. Detail should grow with the team.
Keeping it alive
Appoint an owner. Review the guidelines when you add a product or enter a market. A brand that never updates its rules will see people quietly ignore them. For the components the document should cover, see what a visual identity includes.
For our shortlist of agencies, see 5 of the Best Branding Agencies for Startups at https://brandingagencyforstartups.co.uk/.
