At BeBespoke, we understand the importance of strong brand guidelines for businesses of all sizes. A well-designed and comprehensive set of brand guidelines not only establishes your brand’s identity but also ensures consistency across all touchpoints, from your logo to your marketing collateral. In this blog post, we will share our top five tips for designing better brand guidelines, faster. Whether you’re a small startup or a medium-sized business, these tips will help you create brand guidelines that are scalable, easy to access, and easy to understand.
Tip 1: Create Scaleable Logo Variations
Your logo is the face of your brand, and it is essential to have scaleable variations of your logo in your brand guidelines. This means designing your logo in different formats, such as full-colour, grayscale, and black and white. Additionally, consider creating versions of your logo that can be used in different sizes and on different backgrounds. By providing these variations, you ensure that your logo can be used effectively across various platforms and mediums, maintaining its visual impact and clarity.
Tip 2: Make Assets Easy to Access
Having easily accessible brand assets is crucial for maintaining consistency in your brand’s visual identity. Create a centralised location, such as a shared drive or a cloud-based storage system, where all your brand assets are stored. This includes your logo, brand colours, typography, and any other visual elements that represent your brand. By making these assets readily available to anyone in your organisation, you ensure that everyone has access to the correct and up-to-date assets, preventing the use of outdated or incorrect versions. This not only saves time but also helps maintain a cohesive and professional brand image.
Tip 3: Provide Downloadable Assets
In addition to making your brand assets easy to access, it’s also important to provide downloadable versions. This allows users to easily download and use the assets without having to request or search for them. Consider providing assets in various file formats, such as PNG, JPEG, and EPS, to accommodate different needs and software platforms. By offering downloadable assets, you empower your team members and external partners to use your brand assets effectively, promoting consistency and saving time in the process.
Tip 4: Keep It Simple and Understandable
Brand guidelines should be clear and easy to understand for anyone who refers to them. Avoid using complex or technical jargon and use simple language and visuals to explain your brand guidelines. Use visual examples and provide clear instructions on how to use the brand assets, including specifications for logo placement, colour usage, and typography. By keeping your brand guidelines simple and understandable, you ensure that they are accessible to everyone in your organisation, regardless of their design or marketing expertise.
Tip 5: Design for Future Growth
As your business grows and evolves, your brand guidelines should be able to accommodate these changes. Design your brand guidelines with scalability in mind, allowing for future additions or modifications to be made easily. This includes creating scaleable logo variations that can adapt to different formats and sizes without losing clarity or impact. Consider creating different versions of your logo for different platforms, such as social media profiles or email signatures, to ensure consistency across all touchpoints.
Additionally, think about how your brand guidelines can be easily updated and expanded as your brand grows. This may involve creating a modular system where new sections or guidelines can be added without disrupting the existing structure. By designing for future growth, you save time and effort in the long run, as you won’t have to completely overhaul your brand guidelines every time you make a small change or expansion.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, designing better brand guidelines, faster, is essential for any business looking to establish a strong and cohesive brand identity. By following these tips – creating scaleable logo variations, providing easy access to brand assets, offering downloadable assets, keeping guidelines simple and understandable, and designing for future growth – you can streamline your brand guidelines process and ensure consistency and professionalism across all brand touchpoints. At BeBespoke, we understand the importance of effective brand guidelines and can help you create a comprehensive and user-friendly set of guidelines that truly represent your brand. Contact us today to learn more about our branding services and how we can help your business stand out from the competition.
