Building a consistent and recognizable brand guide is no easy thing. In the middle of every cohesive brand is a strong style guide, a set of standards that aid graphic designers, marketers, web developers, and every other team member in holding a common, unified vision for the brand. Thus, all of the brand guides ensure that every aspect of brand communication reads the same message.
What is a Brand Guide Style?
A brand style guide, often referred to as brand guidelines, defines the form, design, and overall look and feel of a company’s assets, from logos to websites and advertisements. Think of the most recognizable brands: much of the effect usually comes from consistency in color, typography, and language that resonates universally with their audiences. As such, a good brand style guide cuts well to the core of building consistency and familiarity.
Brand Guide: Essentials
A good brand guide entails certain aspects:
A Logo
The logo is perhaps the most recognizable element of an organization. Designs, variations, and use regulations define how it must be used without letting its essence get diluted.
Color Palette
The definition of color palette ensures a level of visual uniformity with all branding pieces, from a website to social media profiles.
Typography
Fonts define the personality of the brand and provide for readability.
Imagery and Iconography
Visual guidelines ensure the look and feel are consistent throughout all of the media.
Brand Voice
This is the tone, language, or style that the brand uses in order to express themselves to the customer.
Best Brand Guides
Each brand puts its own stamp on the style guide. Let’s take a look at some of the best ones, which just might lend some guidance to figuring out your brand’s development.
City of Chicago: Brand Guide
Chicago’s brand guide revolves around its flag. The flag displays a specially designed font known as Big Shoulders, which is motivated by the lines of Carl Sandburg’s poem “Chicago.” It is simple, memorable, and reflects visually the city culture.
Olympic Games: Brand Guide
The Olympic brand has relished the creation of classic colors and rings since 1913. Recently reinvented, this guide symbolizes universality, inclusivity, and hope through its timeless language.
Amnesty International UK: Brand Guide
Bright colors and punchy statements reinforce the overarching theme of a positive, powerful message delivered by Amnesty International. Even in do’s and don’ts, the style guide suggests contrasting colors.
Sonic the Hedgehog: Brand Guide
Sonic brand guides even include character-specific taglines for uniformity throughout media, yet are also quite unique to convey just how different cartoons can be too.
Burger King Brand Guide
Burger King’s style guide is built around “craveability.” The fonts and colors are their play on the cause, bringing their food to mind, and it’s bold, playful, guiltless fun.
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision guide uses a custom typeface that the logo will be set in, and it becomes proprietary due to that. Its scope is only for the letters of “Eurovision.”
OpenAI Brand Guide
OpenAI uses a minimalist black-and-white palette that represents flexibility, letting content be the main highlight and exuding a sense of intellectualism.
DC Comics (1982)
DC Comics puts characters into groups categorized by color palettes, then places each of their briefs with information about mythology and aspects of their personality. The guide further enhances the brand’s focus on storytelling.
Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF)
In a badge that shows resilience and strength, three colors represent it: black, white, and bright red, which form the color scheme of RSF. The lean design represents the guide, depicting how much value the organization places on journalistic integrity.
Oxford Student Union
With specific color combinations and layout guidelines, the Oxford Student Union’s guide ensures that student communications have maintained the highest standards of the institution.
Fiat (2019)
Fiat’s iconic four diagonal lines become a design element that is used playfully throughout the brand to give the feeling of energy and motion.
Team Canada
Team Canada’s guide uses bright geometric patterns, rejuvenating the maple leaf into an iconic symbol of Canadian pride.
Hulu
As for the color, Hulu’s is bright and lively. The guide itself boasts gentle lettering and graphics, which represent the easy-to-access, friendly nature of the service.
Brasil Governo Federal
This guide puts life into the Brazilian federal government’s brand by using colors related to the energy originating from the culture of the country, giving you a feeling of pride and identity.
IBM
IBM’s Simple but strong style guide is for its excellent technological heritage in which the light blue and minimalist design elements are so perfectly defined for their guidance.
Discord
The Discord guide uses an accessible blue palette, which embodies community and connectivity within the gaming-centric culture of its platform.
Netflix Brand Guide
Netflix’s guide boasts that classic red, black, and white color scheme that speaks to viewers around the globe when it comes to streaming culture.
I Love New York
This icon of the ages relies on the “I ♥ NY” logo, a time-free design that captures the spirit and energy of New York City.
TikTok Brand Guide
TikTok’s branding leans into its dark mode look, punctuated by bright neon colors that emphasize its energetic, entertainment-centered mission.
NASA
NASA’s guide puts the marquee “meatball” logo front and center, further establishing the agency as the watchdog of science and exploration.
American Airlines
American Airlines, another big brand, uses a combination of red, white, and blue colors to convey the feelings of patriotism. Its guide is very sleek, and it still remains very professional.
British Rail
The British Rail’s color guidelines specify those shades that almost describe the British land. British Rail’s application of its guidelines is highly expert as there are immense considerations behind it. It has managed to achieve the right balance between historical credence and modern simplicity.
Medium
Medium’s guide is simple: it plays with black, white, and green. It is minimalist, which is an expression of the platform’s mission, which focuses on the content.
Walmart Brand Guide
Walmart’s brand guide is driven by the simplicity of affordability. Cheery blues and yellows used in this guide can be related easily to the company’s target customers.
Spotify
One of the most famous brands on this list, Spotify’s brand book includes a deep range of green, black, and white. Such a solid yet flexible framework can support the range of artwork from multiple albums as well as user content.
Starbucks Brand Guide
Starbucks leverages rich earth tones and deep green to define its responsibility to sustainability, with a brand book that focuses on consistency between products.
Paris 2024 (Olympics)
This style guide for the Olympics uses vibrant hues and geometrics based on French art to bring new life to the Olympic experience in a fresh, dynamic way.
Urban Outfitters
The Urban Outfitters style brand guide is marked by gritty typography and a warm color palette that brings through the brand’s bohemian, young perspective.
Explore the Importance of a Style Guide
A brand style guide is essentially the blueprint for constructing a consistent and recognizable brand identity. It contains detailed guidelines for a brand’s visual and verbal elements, such as logos, colors, typography, imagery, and even tone of voice. This leads to the homogeneity of their presentation across all media-wrapped packaging, website, and social media, and since the brand will always be recognizable and credible to the audience.
Image Matters
Brand consistency, hence, develops loyalty because people remember and believe those brands that are easily recognizable. A well-articulated style guide keeps everybody in a loop, from an in-house graphic designer or marketer to a web developer and even an outside partner, depicting the entity of a brand within a clear framework that represents the brand authentically.
Conclusion
Style guides help team members to produce materials that will allow the brand to be visual, feel-wise, and personality-wise recognized throughout the organization. In other words, nothing created can cause mixed messages or off-brand content. In a highly competitive market, the image of a brand is really what could keep it on top: a strong, unique brand style guide is highly regarded by any company of whatever size.
FAQs
1. What is a brand guidelines template?
A brand guide is a document that outlines a brand’s visual and voice guidelines to ensure consistent representation.
2. Why is a brand guide important?
It ensures consistent brand identity across platforms, building trust and recognition among audiences.
3. What elements should be included in a brand guide?
Essential elements, including logos, colors, typography, imagery, and brand voice, are included in a brand guide.
4. Who should use a brand guide style?
Designers, marketers, and anyone representing the brand should use it to maintain the consistency of the brand guide.
